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ITEM 2. STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS — Lucas Elementary
Hayek: Would the ... would the Mighty Hawks from Lucas Elementary please come
forward!
Karr: Right up here!
Hayek: Well, hi, kids, how ya doin'? Good, well welcome to City Hall. I'm Mayor
Hayek and this is the City Council behind you, and we're really glad to have you
here with us. My first question is, did you have indoor recess today? (laughter)
Okay! So did my kids! Um, well, this is a ... the time at each City Council
meeting, uh, for us to recognize the leaders of the elementary schools in Iowa
City, and this week it's Lucas that we're celebrating, and we're really thrilled to
have you here! And, uh, the first thing we want to make is that you've got your
little pieces of paper, so that's the ... you're off to a good start! But I want to tell
you a little bit about the Student Leadership Awards. Uh, your ... your schools
nominate you, uh, and ... and bring your names to our attention as leaders within
your elementary school, and this is a great way for us to show the whole city, uh,
the great things that are happening in our schools and how our young people are
growing up to be very important parts of our community, and so that's why we
have you here tonight. So I think what I'd like to do initially is to hand the
microphone over and ... and let you tell us a little bit about yourself. You want tc
hold it or do you want me to hold it?
Tellez: Uh, I'll hold it.
Hayek: Okay!
Tellez: Hello, my name is Carlos Tellez. Thank you for inviting me here tonight to
receive this award. I have attended Lucas Elementary for seven years. Lucas
gives me many opportunities, such as safety patrol, ELP, and orchestra. I would
like to thank the City Council for give ... for presenting this award to me. I would
like to thank my sixth grade teachers Miss Dostal and Mr. Mead, and all my
peers. I would also like to thank my mom, sister, stepdad, and stepbrother, nana,
and all my grandparents for all their support. (applause)
Turnquist: Hello, my name is Hanna Tumquist. I am also a sixth grader at Lucas
Elementary, and I have attended for seven years just like, um, Carlos over here.
I'd like to start by saying thank you for this award. I'm really honored to be
nominated, when we have so many wonderful citizens at Lucas. Our motto is
respectful, responsible, caring, and safe, Lucas rocks, Mighty Hawks. My
teachers have made it easy to live up to these ideals. I'm very supported in
making good choices in school, but when both your parents are teachers at your
school, you really don't have a choice. (laughter) (applause)
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Hayek: Well those are fantastic and some of the things you're doing are things that, uh,
the leaders on the City Council did. So for example, uh, safety patrol was
something I did many years ago at Shimek Elementary, and I learned a lot of
lessons from being, uh, part of safety patrol. So you're really doing great things,
and I see family members and teachers and other people out in the audience who
are here to support you and we also want to recognize them for everything they do
to make, uh, you successful as students and to ... to make Lucas a great place. So,
we have what's called a Student Leadership Award and there's one for each of
you, and it reads as follows: For his or her outstanding qualities of leadership
within Lucas Elementary, as well as the community, and for his or her sense of
responsibility and helpfulness to others, we recognize you as an outstanding
student leader. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the Iowa City
City Council. Carlos, here's yours, and Hanna, here's yours. I want to shake
your hands and congratulate you. And you can stick around and watch the rest of
our exciting meeting, or you can go home and do some homework. (laughter)
(applause) Anyway, thanks so much (applause)
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS
ITEM 3a National Native American Heritage Month: November
Hayek: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Human Rights' Member Joe Coulter.
(applause)
Coulter: (native language) Hello, my friends. Uh, I want to, on behalf of the Human
Rights Commission, uh, thank the, uh, the Mayor and the City Council for this
excellent proclamation. I also want to thank you on behalf of our native
communities here in Iowa City, at the University, uh, and in the state of Iowa, um,
for this, uh, expression of support, uh, and endorsement, uh, for this, uh, this
native, uh, heritage month. (native language) Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you, Dr. Coulter.
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ITEM 4. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS
PRESENTED OR AMENDED.
Hayek: Uh, and we will remove, uh, Item 4d(2) for separate consideration.
Throgmorton: Move adoption.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Mims. Discussion? I do want to point out
one of the items that we're about to pass, uh, is a piece of correspondence from
representatives of the Peninsula Neighborhood, and they're in the audience, and I
want to, uh, bring to the audience's attention and those watching and listening
that, uh, at our work session earlier today, the City Council did ask staff to look
at, uh, options for the City on an interim basis to, uh, maintain access into and out
of, uh, the Peninsula area in... during flood events. Um, we don't know where
that will lead, but staff is going to look at what our options are, uh, until we have
a more permanent solution at hand.
Markus: So we'll reach out to the neighborhood and communicate with them and involve
them in the discussion.
Throgmorton: Excellent!
Hayek: Thanks, Tom. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Okay, 4d(2) is...
ITEM 4d(2) 2015 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES — ESTABLISHING THE
CITY'S 2015 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Mims: Move adoption.
Payne: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. This regards, uh, the City's, uh, 2015
Legislative Priorities. It's been moved and seconded; it's on the floor. Jim?
Throgmorton: Yeah, Matt, uh, I asked that we have this item pulled from the Consent Calendar
so that someone on staff could briefly summarize the legislative agenda for the
audience, for the people of Iowa City.
Markus: I've asked Geoff to undertake that. He's our legislative liaison. So I'll ask him to
review that for you.
Fruin: Okay, I'm going to work from the memo in your packet on page 93. Uh, you'll
see outlined there six priorities that we're recommending to you tonight for the
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2015 legislative session. Uh, most of those should look familiar to you. They,
um, five of those were the same as ... as the 2014 priorities, and I think of those
five, um, four had been on the previous year's as well. So a lot of these, uh, do
look familiar. Um, I'll start with those that, uh... uh, that ... that you've seen
before. One is the, um, financial sustainability of the Municipal Fire and Police
Retirement System of Iowa. Uh, number three on that. I'm sorry, number two
would be, um ... uh, providing local governments more flexibility with our ... our
revenue sources, and preserving the local option sales tax distribution formula and
election process. I'm gonna skip number three because that's the new one. Uh,
number four is, uh, increase infrastructure funding, uh, that supports a diverse
transportation network, and this harkens back to passenger rail, road use taxes, uh,
funds for bike trails and such. Uh, five is supporting the University of Iowa's
efforts, uh, to be a global leader in the 21St century, and then six is just a ... a, kind
of a catchall to support the Iowa League of Cities and the Metro Coalition, of
which we are both members. The third one, uh, is new this year and uh, you
previously, probably a couple months ago, received information on a Department
of Revenue, uh, ruling, um, as they're interpreting the, um, property tax reform on
multi -family, uh, residential, uh, properties and ... and how that, uh, impacts
commercial uses that share those same buildings, and uh, I think, uh, the Council
understands that issue, but what's, uh, what's being created essentially is a
situation where commercial properties could potentially be tacked at a ... taxed at a
much lower multi -residential rate, depending on shared uses within the building
that they're located in. And so what we want to do is work with, uh, our fellow
cities and try to seek a... a legislative solution that would, uh, tax all commercial
properties at the commercial rate, and not, uh, essentially give them a discount
just for being co -located with, uh, multi -family residential, uh, uses, as well. I
could elaborate on any of those. Uh, there's descriptions in the resolution (both
talking)
Throgmorton:... item number three, the, uh, the ... the proposed rule making, uh, by the State
Department, or uh, Iowa Department of Revenue would actually result in even
further decreases in property tax revenues, than we already have been
anticipating.
Fruin: That's correct. For some commercial properties.
Throgmorton: Right. Right. So ... it could be basically another hit (laughs) (both talking)
Fruin: It will be...it will be another hit without a legislative solution.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Thanks!
Hayek: Thanks, Geoff, for that. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
Hayek: This is the opportunity at each City Council for members of the public to address
the Council on items that are not on the agenda. So if you're here this evening
and there's something that's not on the agenda that you would like to bring to our
attention, we invite you to come forward. Uh, we ask that you sign in and also
verbally give us your name, and to keep your comments to five minutes or less!
Gravitt: My name's Mary Gravitt, and I'm here about Resolution, uh, 14-37, and I hadn't
read this resolution before. I don't know if I can put it... if I can put it up, so that
people can say what I'm talking about. Well in this resolution, it established the
Ad Hoc Committee, and um ... I don't know how to make this picture go down,
but anyway I'll go on keep talking.
Throgmorton: (both talking) ...maybe somebody can help her (both talking)
Gravitt: ... resolution ... let me see, nope. It's all about the rezoning.
Hayek: Thanks, John!
Gravitt: It's called Ad Hoc rules. Will it stay up on there, cause I know it has to be a copy
left (mumbled) Okay. In the, um, Ad Hoc rules, established the Committee, the
Senior Committee Services. Now I ... I hadn't realized how this was written, until
I read the rules. I was going to these meetings, uh, and ... and just gettin' all
involved and all up ... upset, and I found out I have more reason to be upset!
Stipulation 2 states that the Senior Service Committee shall consist of seven
mem ... uh, seven members appointed by the City Council. After three
mee... meetings, one person, uh, finally resigned on the 12th. She had some kind
of a ... a problem. She had a ... a ... a health problem. So she dropped out. So
there's only three members representing the City Council, and members shall
include at least one member of City Council, a Senior Center Commissioner, and
a non-member of the Senior Center, and then we go on down which I find is
particularly egregious, the City ... number four states that the City Council shall
elect a chair and the vice -chair. Now here's where the confusion comes in. Does
a member of City Council assigns the member of the Ad Hoc Committee speak as
a representative of the Council or as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee, because
this had brought up some confusion. One member of the Committee addressed
this person, and said... you're confusing me cause I don't know when you say
something. Are you representing the City Council or are you representing the Ad
Hoc Committee? Okay ... so ... this shows that one member of the, uh, of the
Committee has more power than all the seven, because the ... the Councilperson, I
should say Dr. Dobyns, has the ... a vote on City Council, and friends on City
Council that'll vote with him. When I as a citizen objected to ... and called this
unethical for a member of City Council to be assigned to the Ad Hoc Committee,
and two Councilpersons agreed with me. You can go ... you can go down to the
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records and see how the vote was made and who agreed and who didn't agree. I
was sent a letter, from a law firm. I don't know if I was supposed to be
intimidated or what. I thought it was funny, and I still think ... uh, think it's funny.
Now by the City Council appointing a member of City Council, and selecting
both the chair and the vice -chair, the City has implanted three moles on the Ad
Hoc Committee, which has thrown us back. Now we have to have our final
meeting on the 24th, which is the week of Thanksgiving. Now I said it was
unethical, and it was unethical, and one thing you forgot that all politics is local.
That's why that tax bill went down like a lead balloon, and we have these ... these
discussions. We can never get to the point that this is supposed to represent
currency, currency, but it's always distracted about the future. What will happen
if we don't have the money? It's nothing in here! This is all about the current.
So I bring this up, and I say you have to stay with the strategic plan, but I know
the strategic plan changes with each ... each meeting. It's like literature city 1984.
You put it down the chute. Now, I'm talking about ethics. I'm not talking about
who is good and who is bad. And this is the ... the same tax, this local tax went
down because the people are talking about ethics. They're pissed! They see you
givin' away their tax money on this ... under this TIF and this and that and they
can't get any regress. So, I mean, like ... who are you representing? You have
your financial interests in all these other things, but no interest in the people. And
the way that you did the Ad Hoc Committee, to cause all of that confusion... it
wasn't right. Not wasn't right! It was unethical! Thank you!
Hayek: Thank you for the comments.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Payne: So moved.
Dickens: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? All those in favor say aye.
Opposed say nay. Motion carries.
Knight: Hi, my name is Roger Knight. Um, just a few little things I want to bring up is...
we've already had our first snow. I don't know who voted for that but we'll talk
about that later. (laughter) Uh... (laughs) Just a few things. I've brought it up
before, is the, um ... snow at the intersection of the streets and sidewalk. 1 can't
step over that. I can't. I'm in a wheelchair, and ... it's already been a little bit bad
already. That's one snowstorm! And I think it's really interesting how ... the
message was sent out by CBS2. I watch them. Um, 24 hours. You've got 24
hours to get this street ... or the sidewalks picked up. Where ... well, the City
doesn't even apply to that. I mean, obey by it. So ... if you can't obey by your
own rules, what message are you sending? It was just one thing in downtown. I
don't think anyone's going to sit outside to have lunch. I know I'm not! But can
we get... them... seating areas put in for the winter at least? It probably would
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help clean up the sidewalks... with snow, and in the spring ... we don't ... ah,
something has to be done so they're not out so far. If you walk downtown on a
busy day, it bottlenecks people like you wouldn't believe. And it ... I don't know
if it's oversight or whatever, but enough is enough with that! And ... to voice the
opinion of the lady who was before me, you guys don't ... hear what the city is
saying. Especially for those who are low-income! You guys wanted to put out,
or have a, uh, local ... uh, option sales tax. Did ... everyone miss econ or ... but
that's a tax on the poor! Right there! Tax on the poor, but we're not gonna build
anything to help the poor! We're gonna let Mediacom do what they do. Eh, if
you don't like it, that's tough for you! You guys aren't workin' for the city. And
I'd like to see each one of you change how things are happening. Things are
moved so quick for Moen! How bout low-income housing? That thing seems to
move slower than the federal government, and that's sayin' something! That's
sayin' a lot of something. Well, I hope you guys can change and ... make the city
look better. Thanks!
Hayek: Thank you for the comments. Okay, we'll move on to Item 6, Planning and
Zoning Matters.
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ITEM 6. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
ITEM 6a REZONING HERBERT HOOVER HIGHWAY — ORDINANCE
CONDITIONALLY REZONING 39.6 ACRES OF PROPERTY FROM
INTERIM DEVELOPMENT SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (ID -RS)
ZONE TO LOW DENSITY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS -5)
ZONE FOR 32.34 ACRES AND LOW DENSITY MULTI -FAMILY (RM -
12) FOR 7.26 ACRES LOCATED AT 4701 HERBERT HOOVER
HIGHWAY. (REZ14-00015)
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Any ex parte
disclosures to make? Mr. Yapp!
Yapp: Uh, good evening. John Yapp, Development Services. Uh, this is a location map
of the property, uh, which is on the south side of Herbert Hoover Highway, north
of St. Patrick's Church. Uh, this is an aerial view of the property. Uh, this
property was annexed in June, 2014, and at that time was zoned interim
development due to the, uh, lack of utilities to the property. Uh, the applicant has
proposed to provide sanitary sewer, uh, in the right-of-way of Herbert Hoover
Highway back toward the intersection of Scott Boulevard and, uh, Herbert
Hoover Highway, uh, which would include a lift station at the southeast corner of
the property. Uh, they would also construct a water line in the same right-of-way.
Oop, I'm getting ahead of myself in the, uh, slides. Uh, the City Engineer has
reviewed this proposal and has found it in concept. It is an acceptable method of
providing utilities. Uh, more detailed construction plans would come with the
final platting of the property, similar to most, uh, subdivisions. Uh, several of the
neighborhood design principles in the Northeast District Plan apply to this
property, and I'll show this development concept. Uh, I would like to emphasize,
this is not the subdivision. It is a concept, uh, at this stage. Uh, but the design
principles are that the development should integrate sensitive features, uh,
including groves of trees and wooded areas. The, uh, blank area near the center of
the property does contain a drainageway, potentially a sensitive area, uh, and is
also a wooded area. Uh, provide for a pattern of inter -connected streets; provide
alleys to provide access, uh, especially for smaller lots; encourage housing
diversity with townhouses and small apartment buildings; uh, and adjacent parks
and open space. Uh, what the applicant has proposed ... is RM -12 zoning along
the Herbert Hoover Highway frontage, which would include, uh, townhouse
development, uh, accessed by alleys within the development. Uh, smaller lot,
single-family, uh, lots on the south side of some of those ... those alleys. Uh,
larger corner lots in the single-family area, which allow for duplex construction,
uh, within that single-family neighborhood. Staff does feel that that housing
diversity goal is met, uh, with this concept. Uh, other conditions that staff has
recommended, uh, include the developer be responsible for providing sewer and
water to the property, and that's a condition so that the City is not in the future,
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uh, subject to that cost. Uh, the developer will provide a pedestrian route back to
the city sidewalk system at the time of development. Uh, development of the
multi -family area will be in compliance with the concept plan, showing
townhouse style multi -family dwellings, with access from a rear lane or alley.
And that, uh... the multi -family area be subject to design review regarding
landscaping, uh, building designs, and site plan review to ensure Comprehensive
Plan policies regarding the appearance of that area, both in relation to the single-
family and along Herbert Hoover Highway, which is an entranceway to the city.
Uh, staff has recommended approval, Planning and Zoning has recommended
approval by a vote of 6 to 1. I'd be glad to take any questions.
Payne: Can you show on this concept plan where the lift station would be?
Yapp: Near ... let me see if I can get my mouse... working. Uh, near the southeast corner
of the property.
Payne: Okay, when you said southeast, I thought you meant... totally southeast. Okay.
And there would be a... (mumbled) easement there on that outlot for it?
Yapp: There would be, and then it would be a force -main, urn ... up to Herbert Hoover
Highway and back toward Old Towne Village.
Payne: Thank you.
Hayek: Any other questions for John? Thank you! This is a public hearing. If anyone
wishes to ... address the Council, you're invited to come forward. Okay.
Gravitt: I have a question. What is (away from mic, unable to hear)
Yapp: Uh, the question was what is a lift station, and it is a ... essentially a pump, uh, for
sewer to pump ... uh, sewage back toward the city sewer main.
Payne: Because gravity flow won't work there.
Yapp: That's correct.
Hayek: Okay. I'm going to close the public hearing at this time. (bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Payne: Move first consideration.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
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Throgmorton: So John noted that the vote was 6 to 1 on the Planning and Zoning Commission
(clears throat) The one Commissioner who voted no, uh, stated, well, this is a
quote from the minutes. I don't know what he said. `The development is in the
Lemme School area and has FRL ratios that are in the 20% range, which is below
the District average.' That Commissioner also wanted to see some of the site
zoned for RM -12 townhomes or small apartment buildings in order to make...
provide space for more affordable units, which would in turn help the School
District ac ... achieve its diversity goals. Uh, much like that Commissioner, I don't
see how this particular rezoning proposal will help the School District achieve
better balance in its FRL rates at the elementary schools. And I think that ... it...
it's completely possible for diverse and affordable kinds of housing to be
harmoniously blended together in a way that would make space for households
below 80% of area median income. In other words, make it easier for the School
District to achieve its diversity goals. And I brought this point up in a different
way back when we were annexing the property. Uh, so in this particular instance
we have pro ... a proposed rezoning before us and I'm going to vote no, uh, on that
proposed rezoning.
Mims: I ... I guess I'm confused. Did you just say that he thought some of it should be
zoned RM -12?
Throgmorton: Yes.
Hayek: I think he said more (both talking)
Mims: We are (both talking)
Hayek: I think he wanted more (both talking)
Throgmorton: I'm sorry, more should be.
Mims: Oh, okay. Okay.
Hayek: That was my recollection (several talking)
Mims: All right.
Payne: Because the way I understand it, all the corner lots are zoned for duplexes, big
enough square footage -wise to put duplexes on. Which is ... would be conducive
to what you're speaking of, and the townhomes could be also smaller and
conducive to what you're speaking of.
Throgmorton: So we have to do two more readings on this proposed rezoning, right? If...if I
saw evidence that a significant percentage of the units, in the overall area, would
be affordable in the way I described, oh I'd eagerly support the rezoning. Without
that, I think we're just making the School District's job harder.
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Hayek: Yeah, you know what though, Jim, I...1, first of all I think the elementary
boundaries are subject to change in the coming years, especially with ... with the
east elementary, uh... uh, subbed in the I think 2019 timeframe coming onboard,
so we don't know what those are going to look like, and secondly, uh, at...at least
at the secondary level, um, you know, this kind of residential growth is good for
balance within the School District. Uh...
Throgmorton: How's that?
Hayek: Well, we've got a (both talking) at the secondary, the ... the numbers are ... are
striking in terms of.. of FRI, and so forth, and so I think one of the ways we can
achieve greater balance within the School District is by having this kind of
residential growth. We're certainly seeing it in other parts of... of the community.
Sol...I just, I don't share (both talking)
Throgmorton: Boy, I ... I don't understand that with regard to elementary schools.
Hayek: But what I'm ... you can't, I think it's hard to know what catchment area this
would be part of in several years because they're going through a redistricting
process. And I think we need to be consistent. I ... I think this is going to pass so I
don't need to, you know, belabor this but ... I mean we routinely pass, uh, similar
or even less RM -12 or less multi -family included, urn ... rezonings, uh, elsewhere.
I mean we've done a number like on ... on the west side off of Camp Cardinal and
that sort of thing. In any event, I ... I think this is good, Jim. Um, I'm going to
support it. It's got a mix, uh, which meets with our ... our plan objectives, and I
think it will be good for, uh, long-term balance, at least at the secondary level.
So, and it's hard to speak to the ... to the primary.
Dobyns: I guess in part I would concur with Jim. I've seen a series of Planning and Zoning
decisions that indirectly, um, sort of keep, um ... lower, uh, affordable housing
units from the northern tier of Iowa City. Uh, we saw, uh, we had a report earlier
today, um, regarding diversity in the community, and the map showed a
significant amount of, um, socio-economic, lower groups in the western and the
southern tier of the city, which we all know, and I have noticed a series of
decisions, um, that preferentially place that in the southern part of the city. I
might take a look at this and I'm thinking of the available elementary schools that
are nearby, and if my geography, um, is correct, um, I would understand that. So
I ... I guess I would concur with Jim, is that I think ... I mean, this looks nice and
there's lots of opportunities here, um, in the northern part of the, uh, city, and I
guess I'd like to, uh, draw some attention to needs of future parcels.
Botchway: I'd have to agree with Jim, as well, I mean again, that was I think something that,
um, he ... he brought up at the initial on -set and I think at that time, and correct me
if I'm wrong, Eleanor, we couldn't obviously say anything about it then, but um,
you know, given the opportunity now, I mean ... this is, I mean, this is ... I feel like
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this is the same conversation that we've been having and I think what happens
again is that we're, uh, to a certain extent kicking it back and we hadn't had the
conversations as far as what type of plan are we looking towards, uh, when it
comes to affordable housing and it's ... it's important, you know, especially when
we're talking about, um ... new neighborhoods, and obviously with the recent
letter from the School District regarding new schools, so ... yeah. I mean, I'm
gonna have to agree with Jim on this and, you know, hopefully this will push
some particular discussion re ... uh, regarding this, and again I know we talked
about it at the MPO meeting. I know we talked about it at the joint meeting, as
well, but you know I mean ... I ... I keep talking about a timeframe, you know.
We're gonna come around here and it's gonna be February, March. We're going
to get into a new City election process, and we're gonna have to have this
discussion over again, and so you know the time is now to kind of do something
about so, you know, I'll have to agree with Jim.
Mims: John, can I ask you a question, please, cause I ... I think maybe people are looking
at this a little differently than I am at least. If I'm counting the multi -family up
there in the concept plan, I'm counting 45 units.
Yapp: That's correct.
Mims: So, we've got 45 units of multi -family, and 80, 82, 83 single-family lots in that
ballpark?
Yapp: Some of which will be duplexes.
Mims: Exactly!
Yapp: Yes.
Mims: So, we are ... even if none of those were duplexes, we are about one-third multi-
family units, and two-thirds single-family units. Now, depending upon how many
of those corner lots are developed into duplexes, you're going to have even more
than a third that are multi -family. So I think this is an exceptionally good
proposal, in terms of balancing, you know, single-family with multi -family, and
not just saying, okay, we're going to just put a ton of multi -family out there. The
second point that I think people are missing is simply because it is multi -family
does not mean it's affordable housing. It depends upon what they put up on those
lots! Those could be very, very expensive townhomes that are not going to be
`affordable' at all. So simply by ... making the assumption that a housing type is
affordable, I think, is an incredible misconception that as Council Members ... we
should not be making or... or presenting that to the public that, oh, we're
approving multi -family so we're helping with affordable housing. That's not
necessarily the case at all. So when I look at this, I certainly hope a lot of this is
affordable. We cannot as a Council in my opinion, and correct me if I'm wrong,
Eleanor, from a legal standpoint, force a developer to put in affordable housing
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unless ... you know, they are ... they're doing something very different that ... that
we have a legal in to do it, or obviously when we start talking about financial
incentives. So, while yes, I certainly hope that there is affordable housing in here,
but I quite frankly am thrilled that we're looking at a new development that is
proposing a third or more of its housing is ... housing units are multi -family.
Throgmorton: It's interesting, Susan, that ... that you, your second point is actually one I was
going to make, that multi -family does not necessarily mean affordable.
Mims: That's... that's right!
Throgmorton: Therefore, the fact that there are 45 multi -family units up here does not
necessarily mean that any of them will be affordable.
Mims: And we have no way of making them affordable (several talking)
Payne: So what do you want to see to ensure it's going to be affordable? I ... I mean,
what ... what would you want to see?
Throgmorton: Well... some evidence (laughs)
Dilkes: But, Jim ... but, Jim...
Throgmorton: Prices!
Dilkes: ...that's an inclusionary zoning ordinance, which the City does not have.
Hayek: That's correct.
Botchway: Well and I guess from that standpoint, and I understand that as well, and again,
going back to Susan's point about assumptions. I wouldn't make any
assumptions. Again, I think it's more of a principle situation where, you know,
we haven't talked about it. I mean, we ... I mean now it's coming ... we have these
discussions initially when we wanted to talk about and we ... we couldn't and
rightfully so. Now it's coming up again, and you know, we still haven't done
anything about it, and so my ... I mean, again, I can't speak for Jim. I concur with
his analysis, but I mean mine more is in principle, because we need to do
something, and so whether or not this discussion leads to us doing something,
something needs to happen. And so I will be voting no simply from a principle
standpoint.
Markus: You've got a test case coming up with the, uh, Riverfront Crossings' area where
we're... looking at that very situation for inclusionary zoning, and so you're going
to have an opportunity to consider that, and I think without that inclusionary
zoning, I think this discussion is nice, but it's not going to get you anywhere, as to
affordable housing in this particular situation. And so ... you're going to have the
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opportunity to probably vote on the Riverfront Croshing, uh, Crossings'
inclusionary zoning and that can be your test case for the rest of the community,
quite frankly. But, right now I don't think you have that ability.
Hayek: John?
Yapp: One point I'd like to make. We've had some staff discussion of this project, and
in terms of housing diversity within the same project, same property owner, same
development, this is one of the most diverse developments we've seen in quite
some time.
Mims: Good! Glad to see that.
Hayek: Further discussion? Roll call on first consideration, please. First consideration
passes 5-2, Botchway and Throgmorton in the negative.
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ITEM 6b REZONING RIVERSIDE DRIVE AND BENTON STREET –
ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 0.5
ACRES OF PROPERTY FROM COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (CC -2)
ZONE TO RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS — WEST RIVERFRONT (RFC -
WR) ZONE LOCATED AT LOCATED AT 708 SOUTH RIVERSIDE
DRIVE. (REZ14-00018)
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Any ex parte
communications to disclose? (several responding) Mr. Yapp!
Yapp: Uh, this property is located at the corner of Benton Street and Riverside Drive.
It's the old Professional Muffler, uh, property, which was destroyed in the tornado
of 2006. Uh, the next two items on the agenda are both related. Uh, but I'll focus
on the rezoning at...at this point. Uh, the property is currently zoned community
commercial. It is in the Riverfront Crossings' district. Uh, and the applicant has
applied for the west riverfront Riverfront Crossings' zone. Uh, this zone allows a
broad mix of commercial and residential uses. One of the key differences
between the community commercial zone and Riverfront Crossings' zone is the
design standards for the ... for the site. Uh, the Riverfront Crossings' zone
emphasizes that buildings be oriented, uh, towards the street. Uh, on a corner lot,
this means the building will be oriented toward both Benton Street and Riverside
Drive. Uh, street -facing entries are both required. Uh, and a 10 -foot recom...
dedication along Riverside Drive is required to allow for an improved streetscape
along Riverside Drive in the future. All of these standards help encourage the
pedestrian -oriented nature of the corridor. Uh, the property is quite small, uh, and
narrow, uh, and there is a sewer easement on the property, uh, as shown on the
overhead. Here's an aerial view of the property. Uh, because the property is
quite small and narrow, site design is a challenge. And the next item on the
agenda, uh, is related... related to those factors. Uh, access to the site is provided
with, uh, through old Benson Street right-of-way. This is, uh, still city right-of-
way that provides access to this property, uh, the Linder Tire property to the
north, and to Ned Ashton Park, which is a, uh, trail, wayside park along the ... the
Iowa River Trail. Uh, this next image is a ... a view from the Riverfront
Crossings' plan. The top image is the ... the current site conditions. It's a ... it's a
vacant lot. It's been vacant since 2006. Uh, the bottom image from the
Riverfront Crossings' plan shows conceptually, uh, how a small commercial
building could be oriented on this property and again with the access from
Riverside Drive, uh, to this property. Uh, staff and the Planning and Zoning
Commission have both recommended approval, uh, subject to the dedication of 10
feet of right-of-way along Riverside Drive. Be glad to take any questions.
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Mims: John, I thought I recalled from the ... packet, talking about access onto Benton
Street. Is that correct, cause what was there visually in terms of that, um,
schematic, and I know that wasn't drawn for this particular rezoning.
Yapp: That's correct.
Mims: ...did not show any, so I just wanted to make sure I recall (both talking)
Yapp: The applicant does intend to apply for a, uh, right -in only on Benton Street, as
part of their site design.
Mims: Okay. Thank you!
Hayek: Thanks, John! Anyone from the audience? Okay, public hearing is closed.
(bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Payne: Move first consideration.
Throgmorton: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Throgmorton. Discussion?
Throgmorton: Looks like a good idea to me!
Dickens: Nice to see that area coming back after ... almost 8 years (several commenting)
Hayek: Roll call, please. First consideration passes 7-0.
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ITEM 6c VACATION OLD BENTON STREET R -O -W — ORDINANCE
VACATING 4,665 SQUARE FEET OLD BENTON STREET RIGHT-OF-
WAY (AUDITOR'S PARCEL 2014085) LOCATED ADJACENT TO 708
SOUTH RIVERSIDE DRIVE. (VAC14-00002)
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel)
Yapp: Uh, this image shows the, uh, proposal to vacate the old Benton Street right-of-
way, which borders the north side of the, uh, the old Professional Muffler
property. Uh, as I mentioned earlier, this property is ... is small and narrow,
difficult to, uh, design a site. Vacating the right-of-way and, uh, eventually
conveying it to the applicant will allow them more flexibility, uh, with their site
design. As part of the analysis of whether the City should or should not vacate
right-of-way, uh, we considered that the right-of-way does not function as a city
street. It really functions as an access drive, uh, to the Linder Tire property, the
Professional Muffler property, and uh, Ned Ashton Park, the trail wayside park.
Uh, and staff feels that the, uh, while it...it is recommended to be vacated, it
should continue to function as an access drive. Uh, so staff has recommended that
it be vacated, subject to the establishment of a 22 -foot access easement, uh, to
preserve vehicular access for both properties and the park. Uh, vacated also... uh,
contingent on the rezoning of the property to Riverfront Crossings' zone and
conveyance of the right-of-way concurrent with the redevelopment of the
property.
Hayek: Any questions for John?
Throgmorton: Yeah, I have one. I kinda like the sound of old Benton Road (laughs)
Yapp: Yes, that ... the...
Throgmorton: Do we know anything about is history, just for the heck of it?
Yapp: The, uh, the old Benton Street bridge ... uh, used to be located north of the existing
bridge and this was the street that led to the bridge. Uh, when the bridge was
demolished, when the new bridge was built, the right-of-way remained, even
though it never ... it no longer functioned as a ... as a city street, and Ned Ashton
Park, which is the, uh... uh, park adjacent to the trail. Ned Ashton was the
designer of the old bridge, and there's a ... a girder in that park to memorialize the
old bridge. That's a short history.
Throgmorton: Thanks!
Hayek: What, uh, how does maintenance play out, going forward?
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Yapp: Uh, maintenance would be the responsibility of the property owner.
Hayek: Plural ... there are owners, plural?
Yapp: Or owners!
Hayek: Okay.
Payne: But the whole .... the whole easement will be on this new property that we just
passed the first rezoning of. None of that ... none of that right ... right-of-way (both
talking)
Yapp: The easement would be on the vacated right-of-way, yes.
Payne: Okay.
Markus: John, when you looked at this development going back to the previous action that
the Council took, and you ... you, uh, made it a curb cut on Benton Street, even
though I think you said it was a right -in only.
Yapp: A right -in only, yes.
Markus: The ... the plan for this area didn't show any point of ingress or egress on Benton
Street.
Yapp: The Riverfront Crossings... plan?
Markus: Yes, the Riverfront Crossings plan. So, when staff and the P&Z reviewed this,
did traffic weigh in on that ... that right -in only?
Yapp: Yes, it...it would allow for much better traffic circulation on this site. Uh, in that
the current access... because Riverside Drive is so busy, it can be very difficult to
make a left-hand turn into this access point. So the right -in off of Benton Street
allows an alternative option, and frankly right -ins only are fairly safe, and so you
wouldn't have the same congestion issue with that access onto Benton Street, as
you would with a full access.
Markus: I ... I guess the ... the point, and I've heard a complaint about this. I thought the
individual complained, I advised them to write a letter to the City. Apparently
that didn't happen, but I ... I would make two points. One is, you have two
driveways, uh, serving two separate pieces of property, one which is currently not
being used but at some point I presume would be, which'll create a lot of more
traffic conflict on Benton Street. Um, and the other is just the crossing of that
pedestrian area along Benton Street. So ... staff did review and (both talking)
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Yapp: We've not received a formal application yet for that access point.
Markus: You have not. But, you're contemplating you will...
Yapp: Yes.
Markus: ... and it sounds like you're willing to consider that.
Yapp: I believe we are willing to consider a right -in only.
Markus: And ... and part of your argument was that that right -in only offsets the left turning
movement on southbound Riverside into this site?
Yapp: It ... it relieves traffic congestion at this existing access point onto Riverside. It
allows for better traffic circulation on this property itself, and does not present
a... a significant concern because it would only be a right -in only.
Payne: That won't come back to Council though, will it? It'll be approved at the staff
level?
Yapp: That's correct.
Hayek: Thanks, John! Anyone else from the audience? Okay, public hearing is closed.
b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Payne: Move first consideration.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 7. APPEAL OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION DECISION - DECIDING THE
APPEAL TO CITY COUNCIL OF THE DECISION OF THE HISTORIC
PRESERVATION COMMISSION DENYING A CERTIFICATE OF
APPROPRIATENESS TO REPLACE THE WINDOWS AT 220 E.
JEFFERSON STREET, AN IOWA CITY HISTORIC LANDMARK
LOCATED IN THE JEFFERSON STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT. (ST.
MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH RECTORY)
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: Um, we will, uh, open up the public hearing. Do you want to make your
comments, Eleanor, before the public hearing commences or ... or....
Dilkes: You can open it up.
Hayek: Okay. So, at this time I will open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Dilkes: So the Mayor's asked me to just, um ... briefly run through the standard that ... that
I set forth in the memo. Urn ... uh, that standard comes from State law. Uh, it's
reiterated in the City Code. And so when you're considering this tonight, there's
two things you want to look at. Number one is whether the Commission in
making its decision followed the, um, guidelines that have been established. Um,
and number two, whether, um, their decision was patently arbitrary and
capricious. The ... kind of the layperson's understanding of what pat ... patently
is ... is obviously, and I gave you a definition from case law on what's arbitrary or
capricious, which is that it's made without regard to the law or the facts of the
case. Um ... you're not to substitute your own judgment. Essentially the way you
look at that is if reasonable minds could differ, but that the Commission can find
support for its decision in the guidelines, um ... then you don't have the authority
to overrule the Commission. On the other hand, if you determine that the
Commission did not follow the appropriate guidelines, or in interpreting those
guidelines, acted arbitrarily or capriciously, then you stand in the shoes of the
Commission and you can make whatever decision the Commission could have
made. (mumbled)
Pugh: Good evening, my name is Mike Pugh and (clears throat) first of all in response to
the first two speakers during the open mic session, I do believe you're working
hard for the City, and I thank you for your service. Probably don't hear that often
enough, but thank you! But that's not why I'm here. (laughter) Uh, I'm here as a
representative of St. Mary's, uh, Church where I serve on the Finance Council
as ... as a lay director, uh, of the Church. Uh, I'm also a past member of the
Historic Preservation Commission, and so I appear before you as a supporter of
historic preservation and very appreciative of all the hard work that the Historic
Preservation Commission has done over the years. St. Mary's Parish seeks to
replace the 28 operational windows of the rectory, which are now dysfunctional.
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At the August meeting of the His ... Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission,
the Commission, uh... uh, denied a certificate of appropriateness for this, uh,
work. In the Commission's opinion, it was that the windows, which are now over
100 years old, should be repaired and not replaced. The rectory house adjacent to
St. Mary's Church serves as a functional residence for the priests assigned to St.
Mary's. Several years ago, St. Mary's voluntarily placed the Church and the
adjacent rectory on the National Register of Historic Places, and volunteered the
buildings to be designated as Iowa City Historic Landmarks. By our account, the
rectory was constructed in 1891. The building does have some historical value,
but not to the level of other key structures in the Jefferson Street District, such as
the Congregational Church, First Methodist Church, or even St. Mary's, uh,
Church itself. We do not believe the present windows are original to the building,
and were likely installed sometime around 1907. The aluminum storm windows
that are necessary to insulate the building as a result of the age of the windows
date to sometime in the 1950s, and are of no historical value. The proposed
replacement windows are, by all accounts, appropriate to the historic presentation
of the building and consistent with local and national guidelines for historic
preservation. Replacing the windows would not disqualify the rectory from being
a key contributing structure to the Jefferson Street Historic District because the
size of the window openings would still conform to the original openings, uh, of
the, uh, of the house. A review of the records shows that the Commission's
decision was based solely on the opinion that St. Mary's had not documented
deterioration to the extent the windows should be replaced. This decision relies
on local and national guidelines for historic preservation that merely recommend
repair of historic windows before replacement is considered, and requires
documentation of the extent of deterioration in order to approve the replacement
of windows. These same guidelines go on to articulate very objective standards
with regard to replacing windows in historic structures. The stated preference
toward considering repair first, before replacement, falls short of being any sort of
mandate. More importantly there are no objective standards, either locally or
nationally, that trigger when windows have reached that tipping point, that they
should be replaced rather than repaired. Is it based on cost? Is it based on the
percentage of windows that are deteriorated? Um, what sort of damage is
necessary, um, to qualify the window for ... for being replaced? What sort of
documentation is required? Both the local and national guidelines on which the
Commission relies are silent on these issues. In the information submitted with
your agenda packet, the phrases `severe deterioration' and `beyond repair' were
used, but those were not phrases that appear in the guidelines. In other words,
there's no criteria in the guidelines for which windows reach the point that
replacement is warranted. In this circumstance, a delegation of four Commission
Members, and a City staff person, visited the rectory house and determined in
their own subjective opinion, that the windows were not of a condition that would
warrant replacement over repair. As Miss, uh, Dilkes indicated, you must
determine whether the Commission's decision was arbitrary or capricious, which
are two words — at least in the legal context — that essentially mean the same
thing. According to dictionary.com, something is `arbitrary' if it is subject to
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individual will or judgment without restriction, contingent solely on one's
discretion. Because there are no standards as to when that tipping point exists to
trigger replacement over repair, the Commission's decision, which relied upon a
heavy dose of subjectivity, is inherently arbitrary. It is possible that on a different
delegation of the Commission, viewing the same property on a different June
evening, would have come to a different conclusion — that the windows should be
replaced. I was a member of the Historic Preservation Commission back in 1995
when St. Mary's Parish volunteered to list the Church and Rectory as Iowa City
landmarks. It was intended to be a source of honor and pride to be listed as a
landmark property. And not as an impediment to be a source, uh, or not as an
im... impediment to good fiscal responsibility and property management. We
should encourage property owners to voluntarily participate in historic
preservation efforts and one way of doing so is to find solutions in cases where a
proposed project does not significantly affect the architectural character of a
historic structure. The City's interest is to preserve the exterior appearance of the
property from Jefferson Street. And the City should be less concerned about
whether the interior components of the window contain sash cords and weights.
We believe the new windows that are historically compatible with the building is
a better result than spending thousands of dollars repairing hundred year old
windows and then having to equip them with aluminum storm windows that date
from the 1950s. We respectfully request that you step into the shoes of the
Commission and allow the windows to be replaced. Thank you for your attention.
Hayek: Thanks, Mr. Pugh!
Ozeroff: Just need a minute for... (several talking away from mic)
Hayek: You might want to stick it right in front of the podium, uh... you could lean it up
against... that'd be fine! Hopefully it doesn't fall! (laughter)
Ozeroff: My name is Jon Ozeroff. I'm a member of St. Mary's Parish and thank you for
listening to our appeal. Uh, I did bring a proposed replacement window, just so
you could take a look at it and sort of evaluate the ... the historical characteristics
of it and so forth. I'm a local contractor, uh, I specialize in window and door
replacements. For the last 14 years, my business has primarily been installing
windows and doors (clears throat) for the Pella window distributorship of Eastern
Iowa, including Johnson, Linn, Iowa, and Cedar counties. I inspected the
windows at St. Mary's Rectory; based on my experience recommended
replacement of the Rectory windows with the Pella architect series, precision fit
replacement window. And of course I have a sample of this window with me.
My reasons for choosing this type of window are the following: use and ease of
operation — the current windows are very difficult to ... to impossible to operate.
These are large windows, as much as 8 -feet in height. They've very heavy and
have no mechanism to ease their operation beyond ropes and sash weights.
Layers of paint buildup on some windows have made the problem worse, but the
presence of lead-based paint would make stripping the windows problematic and
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would have to be performed by an abatement contractor, which would make the
cost even higher. Energy considerations — the architect series window meets or
exceeds all applicable standards for energy -star windows, with dual glazing and
argon gas. The current windows are single -glazed and would require new
aluminum storm windows to even approach current energy standards. The new
windows would also block out noise, as well as moisture and air infiltration far
better than the old windows. Method of installation — replacement windows were
developed to make the installation process easier, less costly, and less invasive
than a complete tear -out of the old window would be. With this product, the old
sashes are removed, but the frame along with the interior and exterior moldings
and trim are left in place. Obviously this helps preserve the historic look of the
window. The new window fits inside the old frame and is finished and trimmed
to match the old window. The old frame is in effect encapsulated by the new
window and so ... and trim, and so lead mitigation is accomplished without
expensive abatement procedures. Historical accuracy — the detailing of the sashes
and frames, as well as the latches and hardware, are appropriate to the age of the
building. The interior of the replacement window is stained to match the old
woodwork. Cost — restoration of the existing windows would be very costly. I
believe all the existing paint and quite possibly the varnishes, as well, are lead-
based, which is typical of that era. Stripping and refinishing the windows and
frames, if done by an abatement contractor, could be as much or more than the
replacement option would be based on my consultations with several abatement
companies. To summarize, replacing the existing windows will result in easy -to -
operate, energy efficient, and historically accurate windows with lower
maintenance costs. Most untrained persons would not notice the difference
between the repaired originals and the more efficient replacement windows.
Thank you for your consideration of our appeal.
Hayek: Thank you.
Burns: Good evening (clears throat) My name is Robert Burns. I'm an architect here in
Iowa City. I've lived in Iowa City for 45 years. Uh, before that I graduated from
an architecture from the, uh, University of Illinois at Champaign -Urbana, uh, in
1969, uh, with honors at the top of my class where architectural history was my
favorite subject and it still is today. I also, uh, wanted to point out to you that I
was responsible for and continue to, uh, maintain the, uh, preservation of the
former Iowa City Press -Citizen building on Washington Street, just down the, uh,
across the street and down the street. But tonight, I want to address the aesthetic
qualities of the proposed Pella windows for the, uh, Rectory. Uh, it's easy to see
that the white color matches the existing trim of the Rectory. The sash, the
mullions and the muntins all are, uh, aligned with the original window locations.
And probably most importantly, the full height, fixed grain more accurately
replicates the historical character of the 1907 windows. And, Marian, if you
could go to number 5 I'd appreciate it.
Karr: ...right in front of you.
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Burns: I just hit 5?
Karr: St. Mary's window icon. (several talking in background)
Burns: Thanks! Yeah, there it is! (mumbled) Okay I can do that. Let me repeat what
I'm say ... what I said. The ... the, uh... (away from mic, difficult to hear) the
replacement window has ... a full -height, fixed screen (unable to hear) to the sill,
and (mumbled) and we believe (back at mic) that that more accurately replicates
the historical character of the original building's windows. This is the head of
the, uh, of a window at St. Mary's Rectory. You can see, there're two hinge
points at the top, and the way these windows were originally built, you would
have a single storm window pane of glass that you would put in in the winter, and
then in the spring you'd replace it with a full height single sheet of, uh, screen
material, separate, uh... um ... from the glass, uh, that would stay there during the
spring, summer, and fall. Now if you look at the staff report, I believe it's
inconsistence with it ... with its recommendations. First it recommends, and I
quote, to repair the existing historic windows following accept Preservation
standards. Then secondly, and I quote, the staff recommends installation of new
combination storm windows, sized to fit inside the distinctive rounded brick mold
trim. Let's see ... could you help me get number one up, please? (laughter)
That's it! Back! Back one more. Let's see ... (mumbled) There it is. I got it! So
this is a photograph of the, uh, one of the combination storm windows that
presently exists at the Rectory. And ... this is what the staff report is
recommending, go back into the window after the inside is renovated. It's the
inside of the window that doesn't operate very well. Well you can see that that's
a ... what is called a combination storm window. They have dual panels. One of
glass and one of screen, that slide up and down. The top panel is reflective glass
and the bottom panel reads opaque but actually that's screen material. And you
can see in the top panel that the glass is reflecting the trees from the surrounding.
And the bottle ... bottom panel is opaque. So the dual panel combination storm
window is inconsistent with the single -storm and the single -screen of the original
1907 window design. Now the Pella replacement windows will im... improve that
historical appearance of the building. It will be sized to fit inside the round brick
molding that ... what, that's, uh, that the Commission wants to preserve because it
matches the Church. But the dark screen material, which is full height, will be
visualized as a single, full height dark hue, similar to the original windows. The
existing combination windows that are there now will be removed and discarded.
So ... in my professional opinion, I believe it's a step in the right direction for the
exterior appearance of this building to im... be improved by putting in the Pella
storm windows so that we can have that full height screen, which will be there all
12 months in this case. Thank you very much for your time.
Hayek: Thank you, Mr. Burns.
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Wirtz: My name is Marily Wertz and I'm a parishioner at St. Mary's in Iowa City.
When my family and I moved to Iowa City in the 1970s, we were apprised of five
Catholic churches that were in the downtown area at that time. That includes the
Newman Center. At this present time, there are three Catholic churches in the
downtown area, which includes the University Student Center. We chose St.
Mary's as our family parish, where I've been active in several capacities.
Presently I am also a lay director at St. Mary's, a role that I take very seriously.
In that capacity, I assist in developing policies to assure maintenance of parish
facilities. Each year, St. Mary's Parish spends tens of thousands of dollars and
more on maintaining the Church and the Rectory buildings. As a parish, we also
have tried to be good stewards of historic preservation. However, having been in
Iowa City for many years as a Iowa City school principal, and I just have to
digress for a moment. It warms my heart to see the leadership and the citizenship
awards be given. I spent many years coming to that event and it still pleases me
to see that. But as an Iowa City school principal and then presently as a lay
director at St. Mary's, I'm very cognizant of the core mission for the people that
we serve. Monies that are spent inefficiently or ineffectively are not available for
service to our parishioners and others needing our help in the community. Like
all churches and other service organizations, we're very sensitive to our budgetary
constraints. In the window situation that we're now discussing, trying to repair
the Rectory windows will result in higher maintenance, reduced heating and
cooling efficiency, and be much more costly to St. Mary's in the long run,
directing money away from our core mission goals. I'm proud to be a citizen of
Iowa City and a member of St. Mary's Church, and my hope is that we would
continue the longstanding relationship that we have with the City and St. Mary's
for years to come. Thank you for your consideration and I too thank you for your
service to our Iowa City community.
Hayek: Thank you.
Spiegel: Council Members, I am Father John Spiegel, Pastor of St. Mary Parish. I share
my gratitude for your kind hearing about our Rectory window replacement project
for St. Mary Church of Iowa City. The generosity of two bequests and one direct
gift has provided St. Mary with the means to take on a number of significant
maintenance and capital improvement projects. In part, these would include
church organ repair; church stained glass window repair; church exterior mortar
and stucco maintenance and repair; church tower bells and carillon repair, with
the installation of an advanced electronic bell striking system, which has now
been completed; and this proposed Rectory window replacement. Twenty-eight
Rectory windows which are designed to be operational and their later installed
exterior storm windows are presently not functional. Many are no longer able to
be opened, are completely sealed. These windows are of a considerable size,
some roughly three feet wide and eight feet tall. Several that are four feet wide
and six feet tall. The present style of these windows, should they be made
functional, will remain very difficult to open and close, given their large
dimensions, and at best difficult functionality. Replacement windows will
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provide ease of function, not afforded by the present units. Replacement windows
would eliminate the need for the equally dysfunctional and unsightly storm
windows. The replacement units to be used are of a special quality, so as to
complement the historic presentation of the Rectory. If the original builders of
this structure had these windows in their time, they would have installed them. In
the past three to two years when the City of Iowa City chose to renew the
sidewalks about St. Mary's, Linn and Jefferson Street corners, they removed the
red paving bricks along this area and replaced the brick and cement sidewalk
configuration with decorative, stamped, and stained concrete. This stamped and
stained concrete application was repeated along the Northside Market Street area.
I can only imagine that this was done to complement this historic area. Excuse
me. I can only imagine that this was done to provide a better surface for walking
and one of far less maintenance, and yet to provide a good complement to this
historic area, rather than the replacement of hand -laid paving bricks throughout
this area. In a sense, St. Mary's Parish is seeking in this window replacement to
do simply as Iowa City itself has done in a like replacement project. The brick
structure, originally known as the St. Agatha Seminary for the education of young
ladies, a foundation of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the
northwest corner of the Jefferson and Dubuque Streets intersection, which
predates the present Rectory of St. Mary, has upon a close exterior inspection of
its window apertures, windows of a present-day manufacturer. One hesitates to
imagine that a property, now a residential apartment enterprise, which pays tax to
Iowa City, is afforded a less -demanding standard of appropriateness than a
Roman Catholic Church structure for the lack of tax payment, nor any other
prejudicial reason. Nor would ... would one want to suggest that the standard of
appropriateness apride to this residential apartment building, when compared to
the residential Rectory buil... building evidences an appropriateness standard that
may be thought arbitrary, capricious, or prejudicial. This project has come
forward from the Property Management Commission of St. Mary Parish and has
been accepted and approved by the Parish Council, the Parish Financial Council,
and the Parish Corporate Board. It is truly known by these bodies to be in the best
interest of our parish, and evidences the parishes continued good stewardship of
its historic property and buildings. St. Mary Rectory is not a museum piece! Nor
is it a work of a historic reenactment site, like historic colonial Williamsburg. It
is a present-day residence. If asked to name the Pope, the Pastor of St. Mary
Church would not respond Pius the Tenth. The Rectory of St. Mary is the home
of the priest assigned to St. Mary Parish. The Parish desires to provide a rev... a
residence of contemporary functionality for its occupants. The thermal insulation
...insulation quality of the windows have a bearing on the present cost of heating
and cooling. Replacement windows will aid in keeping heating and cooling
expenses less, and is a contribution of the Parish to conservation and carbon
pollution reduction. The provision of functional replacement windows will allow
for natural ventilation, especially desired in ... and in between heating and cooling
seasons, which the present windows do not, and spare its occupants from drafts in
cold weather conditions and noisy rattles when storm or wind presents. The good
of this project is continue ... is to continue to equip the Rectory with present day
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state -of -art features that in large part respect the architectural quality of the
building, and ya... and yet make present contemporary functionality and comfort
for those who call the Rectory their home. The replacement windows now to be
installed will continue to evidence the good stewardship of St. Mary Parish over
its property and its care for those it has in residence in its Rectory. The style of
these windows will eliminate costly maintenance and provide increased ease of
operation. As I understand the denial given this work by the Historical
Preservation Commission, it does not object to a replacement per se, but rather it
questions the degree of deterioration and dysfunction of the present windows in
order to permit a replacement. If St. Mary were to have simply neglected these
windows over the last hundred years, and had allowed and endured their
deteriorating condition, then the replacement of these windows could move
forward without question. Why punish St. Mary Parish for the good stewardship
of its property, and require the residents of the rectory to endure the poor quality
and functionality of these present windows further? Simply permit now the
replacement of these windows. Do not require the payment of funds for less than
a desirable return. Let us not argue over the present state of disrepair and
dysfunction, which I live with and others simply have dropped in to view. Please
permit this standard and good improvement, which you as homeowners would
desire for your own home, take place in the home of the Pastor and the Parochial
Victor of St. Mary Parish. I thank you for your kind attention to my remarks.
Hayek: Thank you, Father.
Swaim: Good evening. My name is Ginalie Swaim and I'm the Chair of the Historic
Preservation Commission. Uh... regarding the ... the previous point about, uh, if
one lets the windows deteriorate over a century, uh, one would not then be
punished by having to, uh, deal with them now. Um, it's not a question of
punishment in terms of, uh, taking care of current windows in, uh, it's the matter
of shared stewardship and pride and, uh, responsibility that the community and
property owners and historic preservationists, um, share together, and a historic
structure is greater than the sum of its parts. Windows are especially important
elements in older buildings. And therefore the Commission takes great care in
reviewing all window applications, and we have many of them. There are
probably more applications about windows than... of any other element that we
see. We base every one of our decisions on the U.S. Secretary of Interior's
standards. These are national standards, designed to preserve important historic
buildings, and these federal standards have been incorporated into the City's local
preservation standards. To speak specifically about the buildings, the windows
dating far back over a century of St ... (noise on mic) St. Mary's Rectory windows
are were crafted from quality old growth wood. It has a denser and a tighter grain
than newer wood, and is therefore more durable and more repairable than newer
windows. The Commission has seen windows from the 1920s and 40s and such
that were made from newer wind ... newer wood, and they do have problems that
the old growth windows of a century or so ago do not have. Old growth windows
have a longer life expectancy than the newer windows, as well. (coughing, unable
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to hear speaker) ...have said, and our local preservation standards spell out that
windows may be replaced if they are in a deteriorated condition beyond reason
...reasonable repair. One speaker, uh, spoke to what are ... how do you judge
deteriorated beyond and whether, um, one said commissioners on one June night
would rule them one way and another said another June night (laughs). Uh, we...
have experienced contractors on our Commission who generally work frequently
with older houses and they share their experience. Uh, our consultant, Sherry
Peterson, has training in window preservation, and so she brings her own
knowledge to it. Uh, we are generally kept apprised of new studies on terms of
the values of older windows versus newer windows, and I don't think there is
anything capricious about how we apply our standards and make our judgments.
The windows are not in deteriorated condition beyond repair. In fact, it's far from
the case. According to the staff and Commission findings, there is no evidence of
wood rot, water damage, warping, or separation of joints. In other words, there's
no evidence that warrants replacement per the guidelines. The applicants have
voiced concerns about ease of operation. This can be accomplished with
replacing the sash cords, which people in old houses usually do, maybe every 50
years; applying bees wax on the channels, and where paint maybe has, um,
painted shut the window, using a putty knife. Anyone with an old window or an
old house has experienced this. Peeling lead paint is common in most historic
buildings, and is becoming a common procedure in terms of abatement and can be
addressed by any painting contractor. In terms of energy efficiency, the ... that can
be addressed by recaulking, repair, or replacement of storm windows, and the
Commission does not, um, have historic review over installation or removal of
storm windows. That was a recommendation of the Commission, but only in
terms of that that would be an additional thing that could be done, but we do not
have review over that. The windows are in near ... need of periodic maintenance,
and this is true of any window on an older structure or a new structure of
functional homes and of public buildings. Our vote to deny replacement was
neither capricious nor arbitrary, but rather based on the overall fact that these are
in overall good condition and the federal and local guidelines. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you.
Hemingway: Phil Hemingway. Um, I am a, uh, parishioner and also a, uh, 5:30 usher at St.
Mary's. Um, I appeal to you to allow St. Mary's to replace the windows on a
common sense level. Uh, I grew up in a century farm that, uh, was a century farm
in the late ... in the mid-70s. It was built in 1876. And having lived in a, uh, older
structure, and wanting to maintain it. Uh, the Coulter House on, uh, Strawbridge
Road in rural Johnson County is historically significant and understand where the,
uh, Commission is coming on wanting to preserve it, but also you get the common
sense. Uh, I'm sure the ... building originally had a coal-fired furnace that we've
allowed to be upgraded. I'm assuring that, uh, the insulation when it was
constructed might have consisted of tar paper and one layer. Uh, we ... we
shouldn't just look at this as just the ... we have to maintain these antiquated
windows, uh, and the arguments about cleaning them with a putty knife and
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everything like that, uh, those old sash windows are just not efficient! (laughs) I
don't think, uh... uh, if you had someone from the, uh, electrical utility come in
and ... and uh, go on the merits of the old sash windows, uh, you'd get much
support for that. But, uh, I urge you to err on common sense and, uh, to allow St.
Mary's to provide this structure in a efficient way. Uh, if we were to be in a
situation where we're going to perpetuate inefficient structures, uh, doesn't set a
very good example. Uh, we're providing something that's historically, uh,
comparative to what there was, and we should be allowed to modernize the
structure. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you for the comments.
Johnson: Good evening. My name's Larry Johnson. I'm a Board Member of the Friends
of Historic Preservation, and I also run a small business of, uh, restoring old
windows. Um, while I've been listening to the other speakers this evening, uh,
there are a few points that they've made that I'd like to address. Um, one of those
is energy efficiency. Um, in 2011, there was a summit held at the Pine Mountain
Settlement School in Kentucky, southeastern Kentucky, and uh, by the Window
Preservation Standards Collaborative. Uh, this is a national group of window
restorationists and uh, and they, um ... restore, they basically took a control group
of an unsr ... unrestored old sash window and also, uh, ran tests on some restored
sash windows. The, uh, these are, um, industry standard tests and using blower
doors, sealed rooms, and the proof that, uh, that they discovered was that old sash
windows, when properly restored, weather stripped with efficient storms are
equally, if not more energy efficient, than any replacement window. Um, in an
old house with, uh... um ... uh....without a restored envelope and with unrestored
windows you have a air infiltration rate of about 11 % through the windows. Uh,
in a restored house with restored windows that figure is right around 7%. Um,
most of the energy loss in a ... in an old house or an old structure goes out through
the roof. Um, so far as operation is concerned, uh, generally, uh, address that
point. It's, uh, it's pretty easy to ... to, uh, replace the old ropes, um, through the
weights... weight pocket doors and uh, it's a pretty fast operation. Uh, these
windows are a hundred years old and with proper restoration could easily last
another hun... another hundred years. Conservatively estimated something like 35
million windows went into landfills last year nationally. And, probably about
40% of those were replacement windows that had reached the end of their service
period. They ... will be replaced by windows with another short service period,
usually the guarantees on these are right ... right around 20 years. Uh, so the cost
of restoration also is comparable, if not less, than replacement windows. Um, and
uh, even with the replacement and a new ... uh, a replacement window, uh, like the
Pella, uh, these windows could be restored and new storms could be put in,
probably for less. Um ... then, and so far as lead abatement goes, uh, my method
when I restore an old sash window is to remove the ... remove the sash from the
site, take it back to my workshop, and strip all the old paint off. So, there
wouldn't be any need for lead abatement on site because it would all be done off-
site. And I use safe lead procedures in my shop. And uh, any window
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restorationist would ... any other window restorationist would use the same
procedure. Uh, they would not be doing this ... doing, uh, lead paint removal from
the window sash on-site. Uh, very, very little area would be disturbed. Um...
and then um ... another ... another point that didn't get made is that, um, there's
some beautiful old glass in these windows. Um, the glass that is in these windows
is no longer manufactured. That process stopped being used in the 1930s. Uh, it',
uh, it's com... it's known as `cylinder glass,' and a lot of people used to call it
wavy glass. Urn ... the replacement windows, of course, will have optically
perfect glass, but it definitely won't have the same look as the old windows, and
uh, and ... it's pretty easy to see, even from the street, uh, the old glass (coughing;
unable to hear speaker) that's it's the older glass. So ... those are ... those are my
points and uh... I thank you for your time and attention.
Hayek: Thank you for the comments.
Trimble: Hello, my name is Alicia Trimble. I am Executive Director of Friends of Historic
Preservation. Um, you guys doing okay up there? I always worry about you like
after speak number seven or so (laughs) Um, you ... you know, I want to say first
that I was on the Historic Preservation Forum... Commission for many, many
years, and I was the Chair for a couple of years, and ... these windows are probably
the best windows I've ever seen come up before the ... the Commission. They're
in great shape, and if the Commission had voted to let them remove the windows,
they would have been treating St. Mary's Rectory different than they treat every
other applicant that comes before them. Um, now that I've said that, I think,
um ... what we have here is an education problem. You know, Pella windows,
window manufacturers have millions of dollars to advertise and tell us what, you
know, tell us what we need, but the truth of the matter is, the Secretary of Interior,
all sus... sustainable developers, any carpenter worth his salt will tell you that
nothing compares to an old window. Um, most window problems I hear about
actually have broken sash cords. They last for about a hundred year. They're
cotton, so you walk down to the hardware store and you can get new sash cord.
Up ... upper, uh, stash, eh ... upper sashes are often painted open. Those can easily
be, uh, cut and pushed up like Ginalie said, and glazing fails after, you know, 50
years and that's easy enough to fix, as well. Um, a couple of months ago, um,
Friends of Historic Preservation asked St. Mary's if we could, uh, host a
workshop for them. Um, they declined the offer, but I want to let them know that
that is open at any ... any time. We are happy to host a workshop for free, our
cost. We'll get a professional window restorer, like Larry Johnson who just
spoke, at our cost. We'll also donate necessary ma ... materials from the salvage
barn and um, we will also help them if they wish apply for the $6,000 in tax
credits they'll be eligible for if they restore these windows. Uh, the State
Historical Society has assured if this restoration's done properly, those tax credits
should be no problem. Um ... if they need any other assistance, uh, we're also
happy to help them with anything. Um, so I would encourage you to treat St.
Mary's fairly as the Commission always treats its applicants and treat them the
same way everyone else would. They made the right decision on this one.
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Hayek: Thank you for the comments.
Corcoran: Good evening. My name is Kate Corcoran. I'm a native of Iowa City and I am a
member of the Historic Preservation Commission. I was appointed by you last
year and I joined in March of 2013, so I'm in my second year. Prior to that I
served six years on the Iowa City Board of Adjustment, and I was Chair the last,
uh, year of my service. Okay. First of all, the issues before the Council tonight
are not whether repairing historic windows is more expensive than replacement.
It's not whether historic windows require more or less maintenance or cost than
replacement windows. Nor is it whether historic windows are more or less energy
efficient, and it is not whether repaired windows operate more easily than
replacement windows. The issues before you tonight are really quite narrow.
Mainly, did the Historic Preservation exercise its powers properly by following
the guidelines that constitutes Iowa City's Historic Preservation law, as embodied
in the Iowa City Zoning Code, and in exercising those powers, and in coming to
the decision with regard to St. Mary's proposed replacement of the 28 windows in
the Rectory. If in denying them a certificate of appropriateness, did we act in a
patently arbitrary and a capricious manner. You know that as a quasi judicial
commission in service to Iowa City, our purpose and function are to interpret the
City's Historic Preservation's laws and apply them, and you have appointed us to
do that. In the case of St. Mary's, we did not, and the record shows this, we did
not in any way act in an arbitrary or capricious manner. Here are the particulars
of how we came to this decision. First of all, at our meeting last June 6, 2014, we
reviewed this application and we had a presentation by the, uh, staff of Iowa City,
as well as, um, the Pastor of St. Mary's and other people who, um, spoke on
behalf of the application. Earlier, Iowa City staff members had visited the
Rectory with the applicant and viewed a sampling of the windows. The City's
consultant, who has training in historic window preservation, also accompanied
them. The staff and the consultant observed no signs of deterioration at that time,
especially no wood rot, no warping, and no water damage. Nor had the applicant,
um, included any evidence or, um ... you know, documentation of deterioration in
the application. After extensive discussion at the June 6 me ... meeting, the
Commission voted 7-0 to defer the consideration of this application, and it was
because we wanted to take a careful approach to this and be sensitive and really
give this, you know, our complete attention, and during my time on the
Commission, this is the first time we've ever done this, that we've ever deferred a
decision until a later time. We usually are given an application. We consider the
merits. We consult with one another. Discuss the law, and we make a decision.
All right. So, it was our decision at that June 6 meeting that a ... that a group of
Commissioners who could go to the Rectory to examine the windows, you know,
do so. And this was because, as I said, the applicant provided us with no evidence
of any kind of deterioration that would warrant the replacement of these windows,
under the law. So, a subcommittee of Commissioners, and a staff representative,
again visited the Rectory, along with two Church representatives to inspect a good
sample of the windows for any deterioration. One of the Commissioners with
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whom I serve who was in attendance that night is an experienced restoration
carpenter of old homes and windows in Io ... in the Iowa City area. The conditions
that the Commissioners saw that night included peeling exterior paint, upper
sashes that had been painted shut, missing or failed glazing putty, broken sash
cords, and interior wood finish that was damaged by years of sun exposure. And
these are all conditions that can be remedied. At that time, they also took photos
of the windows to share with us at our August 14 meeting, when we would take
this matter up. We ... we didn't have a meeting in July. So, at our August 14
meeting we again reviewed the application. Photos from the site were passed
around and we looked at them. The subcommittee that had visited the Rectory
reported that they saw no evidence of deterioration in the windows. Based on the
lack of evidence of any deterioration, the Commission at that time voted 6-0 to
deny the certificate of appropriateness. Now, rather than behaving in an arbitrary
or a capricious manner, we took great pains to apply the legal standards, the law
of this community, the guidelines, and to come to a very careful, honest, and
appropriate decision consistent with the law. Okay. The guidelines which
constitute Iowa City's Historic Preservation law clearly state that historic
windows should be repaired before replacement is considered, and in order to
gain approval for replacement, an applicant must document that deterioration has
occurred and must document its extent. As I said, we did not act in an arbitrary or
a capricious manner. After much discussion and the inspection, we came to the
conclusion based on the law that in the case of St. Mary's Rectory the law
required that these historic windows be repaired rather than replaced. As you
know, we Commissioners are volunteers appointed by you, the City Council, to
oversee and protect the City's historic resources. We bring experience,
knowledge, and a love of history to this task, and a love of this town. We take our
role and our powers very seriously, and we work for the benefit that historic
buildings and properties bring to future generations. We appreciate the
opportunity you've given us to serve, and the faith and the trust that the Council
has placed in us. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to entertain them.
Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you for the comments. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and close the public
hearing and have the Council take this up for consideration, and I appreciate the
comments, uh, provided by all of you. (bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER A MOTION
Dobyns: Earlier today at our work session (both talking)
Hayek: Gotta get something on the ... table!
Dobyns: Okay. Um...
Hayek: A motion to either a ... affirm the ruling of the Commission, or overturn it.
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Dobyns: Move to affirm.
Payne: Second. (both talking)
Throgmorton: Second.
Hayek: Moved by, uh, Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Discussion.
Dobyns: Earlier today during our work session I had some points of clarification. Our City
Attorney recommended I bring it up, uh, public for the purposes of transparency.
So, Eleanor, my question is that I think what's before us today in terms of
adjudication is that, say I had the window expertise of Larry Johnson and others,
which I definitely do not! Um, and I went and took a look at this window, I might
come to a different, uh, professional decision than Mr. Johnson and the rest of the
Commission did, but my understanding that it's not what is before us today. It's
supposed to be applied the decision he and they made based on the rulings by the,
um, Department of Interior and the Human, and the, uh, Historic Preservation
Commission. Is...
Dilkes: That's accurate.
Dobyns: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Well, I want to say, um, first of all thank you to all the St. Mary parishioners who
have come, and others maybe who aren't parishioners but have come because
they support St. Mary. Uh, I too own a ... a 105 -year-old house and attend a
church that's 150 -years -old, so I have a pretty good idea what's involved, uh, with
older windows and trying to maintain them and ... the amount of air that comes in
from the outside and what you have to do and what's required to make sure your
house or church performs well with older windows. I mean, I think I understand
the challenge associated with that. But that's not the standard before us.
It's ... it's not whether ... like Rick said, whether I or any of the rest of us have the
right to impose our own judgment on the Commission's. I think, uh, that, um,
Kate Corcoran of the Commission laid out a very clear narrative about the process
that the Commission went through. I can't imagine them following a better,
sounder process. I think it's the kind of thing we all would want to see done when
we submit a proposal to them. In fact, I've ... my wife and I have gone through the
Historic Preservation Commission two or three times before. So ... they ... they
follow the procedures and the laws as they understand it, and I see no evidence
whatsoever that they behaved or made a decision in an arbitrary or a capricious
way. I'm sorry; I completely understand the concern you have, but that's the way
I see it.
Dickens: As we all know, common sense doesn't always get to play into something like
this. I ... I understand why common sense is replaced, but that's not the question
that we have in front of us. So ... the Committee followed all the guidelines. They
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followed all the rules. As far as I can tell we have to vote to affirm what their
decision was, even though my gut tells me differently (laughs)
Hayek: I ... I can speak next. I ... I love these buildings. I love the presence of our
churches in the ... the circle of churches that, the ring of churches in ... original to
Iowa City. Um, my great-grandfather, according to family lore, climbed to the
top of the spire of St. Mary's, uh, at the very end of the 19th century on a bet, um
and ended up in jail (laughter) um ... (coughing)
Throgmorton: Did your father pass that tradition down (laughter)
Hayek: Yeah! No ... no one has done it since then! (laughter) Um, and...and...and
replacement may very well ... uh, represent a more practical, efficient solution, uh,
to the situation but ... but as has been said, the... the... that's not our charge tonight.
So I'm trying to go through this in ... methodical fashion to first determine did
they follow established code guidelines and as far as I can tell, they .... they did.
I ... I found the term `badly deteriorated' in our Preservation handbook, which is
on, uh, in ... in the packet. Um ... uh, and there's clearly a preference for, uh... uh,
for uh.... repair before replacement, but that badly deteriorated does show me
that ... that there is some, uh, sense of what the tipping point is, um, you know, at
least that's... that's stronger than just pure deterioration. Um, and then the second
point being on the arbitrary and capricious, you know, I also looked up the
definition and there ... there seems to be this, uh... um, indication of...that ... that
the decision would be based on personal whim. Um, without any restriction or
any, uh, or any reason, um, and I think the fact that the code or the guidelines
were applied, were tied to the decision, um, are, you know, suggest that ... thatthe
decision was not based on personal whim, that it was tied to something. It was
restricted by the guidelines that we as a Council implemented, um, years ago. So,
uh... does ... does our historic preservation regime create some perverse outcomes
or perverse incentives to ... to permit con, you know, sustained deterioration of
something so that you can, um, replace once you've passed that tipping point?
Uh, perhaps! Um ... uh, should we consider changes to our historic preservation,
uh, ordinances. Um, perhaps! I ... I've been on the Council now about seven
years and I've seen some of these situations where, uh, we have a... a frustrating
outcome for an ... an applicant, um, and I'm sympathetic to that, but like (laughs)
like democracy, uh, like our system of democracy, I ... I often view our historic
preservation regime as the best thing we've been able to come up with to protect
our neighborhoods, and that .... in the aggregate that system is good for our
neighborhoods. It's better than anything we've figured out, to date, but it does
cause frustration and disappointment, and on some level may not make sense, uh,
in isolated, um, applications. Um, so that ... that's my more ... my broader policy
perspective on this, but... nevertheless, our charge tonight, it seems to me, is a
narrow one and I ... and I just don't see grounds to reverse, uh, the decision of the
Commission.
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Mims: I would have to agree with other Councilors that have spoken. I ... I think when
we look at the process that took place, uh, we don't have grounds to overrule that.
I understand the concerns. You know, like Jim, I grew up in a house that's, I
don't know, now about 170 -years -old in Vermont and uh, certainly has ... I
remember the sashes being painted shut and all those good things and ... cords
breaking. Um, and I... and I understand the fact that, you know, the repair work
may be more expensive than the replacement. Um, all I can say is I hope that you
will, in going forward, will take advantage of the offers of assistance and uh, that
have been made to the Church in terms of training on things and volunteers to
maybe help do some of that work. Um, you know, again from an aesthetic
standpoint, uh, getting rid of the extra storm windows on the outside, I get it, but I
think as the Mayor has said, uh, what we have in front of us tonight is a very
narrow charge, and I, like the others, have not seen evidence that, um, the process
that was taken was not, um, done fairly and accurately. So I'll have to uphold
their decision.
Botchway: I'd agree as well, um, I will say though, you know, um, for lack of a better word
just because the ... the night is getting... coming on, uh, it stinks, you know, and
especially from the standpoint of, you know, uh, one particular person that spoke,
I can't remember, who spoke about the detiora... deterioration and, you know, if
this had been a situation of just letting it do, you know, we'd probably come to a
different analysis and different judgment. I just think that sets a bad precedent,
um, but again, you know, like... so many of the other Councilors have said, you
know, we're looking at, uh, a very narrow, um ... uh, set of, uh.... uh, a very
narrow situation, um, which is unfortunate, but uh... but yeah, I'd have to do the
same.
Payne: I just want to, uh, reiterate what Susan said, um, to take advantage of, um, the
offer by the Friends of Historic Preservation. Um, especially if they have some
tax credits that you can take advantage of, uh, in this situation.
Hayek: Okay. Is there any further discussion? So a vote yes if a vote to affirm the, uh,
decision of the Commission. All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay.
Motion carries 7-0. We appreciate your, uh, time here and your ... and your
comments.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Throgmorton: So moved.
Dobyns: Second.
Hayek: Moved by ... Throgmorton, seconded by ... Dobyns. Discussion? All those in
favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7-0. Should we take a quick
break? (several talking) Gonna defer to your elder there, Kingsley! No, let's
take a break and come back at... (recording ends)
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ITEM 8. AIRPORT PURCHASE AGREEMENT - RESOLUTION APPROVING A
PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND
QCI THERMAL SYSTEMS, INC. FOR LOT 7 OF THE NORTH
AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT SUBDIVISION AND AUTHORIZING
CONVEYANCE IN ACCORDANCE THEREWITH.
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) For the public's, uh,
edification, this concerns, uh, Lot #7 and the sales price is just shy of $180,000.
It's been approved by the Airport Commission. I will close the public hearing.
(bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Dobyns: Move the resolution.
Botchway: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Botchway. Discussion?
Dickens: Does a percentage of this come back ... to us to pay off their loans?
Markus: Yes (several talking)
Hayek: ... debt reduction.
Markus: Mike, what is it? 80%?
Tharp: It's, uh, 70%, but with this one and the next item you'll consider, if both of those
actually close, we'll be fully paid.
Dickens: Wonderful!
Mims: Great! (several talking)
Hayek: Thanks, Mike! Further discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 9. AIRPORT PURCHASE AGREEMENT - RESOLUTION APPROVING A
PURCHASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND
TAMARACK MATERIALS, INC. FOR LOTS 11, 12, AND 13 OF THE
NORTH AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT SUBDIVISION AND
AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE IN ACCORDANCE THEREWITH.
a. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Uh, the sales price
for this is $585,000, which is based on the same ... price per square foot. Anyone
from the audience? Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel)
b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Mims: Move the resolution.
Dickens: Second.
Botchway: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes
7-0.
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ITEM 10. IOWA CITY MARKETPLACE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT —
RESOLUTION APPROVING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH
CORE SYCAMORE TOWN CENTER LLC FOR RENOVATION OF
IOWA CITY MARKETPLACE.
Mims: Move the resolution.
Payne: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion?
Mims: Um, I just take a minute to talk a little bit about where this, you know, has kind of
come through from the ... from the EDC. You know, a lot of this ... you know, as
we're aware this is the second TIF that we've done, um, with that area in the last
few years and ... this is a critically important, you know, economic area, retail
area, within the city and with Von Maur leaving, um, you know, really important
that we, you know, still take care of that area, and one of the things that I would
also comment is is a lot of changes in terms of the pedestrian access and outside
look of the place, um, is also important, as well as getting in a new, uh, anchor
there. So, we felt it was important and uh, it's certainly a short term compared to
what some of the others have been because that whole ... eh, that whole urban
renewal area, um, expires. So it had to be relatively short term.
Dickens: Yeah, with the six year sunset it's shorter than a lot of...TIFs that we've done
before.
Mims: Right.
Dilkes: (several talking) ...it's not a six year rebate — it's a seven year!
Dickens: Is it seven? (several talking)
Mims: Okay. Still short!
Payne: But we are taking the whole area into account...
Mims: Yes!
Payne: ... so would that also mean that if someone else applied for a TIF in that district
that they may not be able to get it, because of that?
Throgmorton: That's right!
Markus: That's exactly right.
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Hayek: That is a departure.
Throgmorton: So I want to ask a question, and then say a little bit about this, yeah. So (clears
throat) the question I guess is ... is Jeff, yeah, is for Jeff. Am I correct in
understanding that the TIF assistance would be provided to Core Town Center
and not to Lucky's Market? In other words that the assistance would not directly
subsidize Lucky's?
Davidson: That is correct.
Throgmorton: Okay, just wanted to be ... have that on the record. Thank you! Uh, you know,
I ... I fully recognize the truth in what Susan just said. It's an important site, not
just for the owners, not just for the tenants, but for the surrounding neighborhood,
and I'd love to see a new anchor tenant there that would be at least as good as
Von Maur's, which actually my wife and I used to go to a lot. Uh, and I
completely support the idea of the City investing in this part of the city for all
sorts of reasons. I think Core's proposed changes would be a step in the right
direction. And I agree with the staff, that if financial assistance is going to be
provided, it's best to do it in the form of a rebate, which is what we have before
us. So my main concern has to do with whether the proposed TIF assistance is
needed. So one (mumbled) we've gotten messages from various people about
this, uh, one normally thinks of a TIF as an incentive. That is as an inducement to
get someone to do something that they would otherwise not do. So, based on the
written record before us, at least the stuff I've seen and the stuff I've read, I'm not
yet persuaded that the owners of the Town Center need financial support from the
City. Uh... I gotta scroll down a little bit here. Sorry! Um, that ... that the owners
need financial support from the City to take actions that are already in their own
economic self-interest. So ... the ... the question I have is: what specifically would
the people of the city be gaining that is not already in the owner's self-interest to
provide? Or said differently, do we have any evidence, written evidence, that the
owners would not make these changes without financial assistance from the City?
Or that, uh... or that Lucky's Market and Planet Fitness would not move into the
mall without the assistance? That's the question I have, and y'all had a econ... I
mean the Economic Development Committee met, discussed this. I read the
minutes. But I haven't seen written evidence.
Mims: I think you raise a point, Jim, that I think is always going to be in front of us and
is always going to be a challenge from the City's perspective, and that ... I mean
that's one of the reasons, the biggest reason probably that we use the National
Development Council and Tom Jackson to analyze, you know, the financials of a
private company. You know, they don't want to reveal it to the City because then
it becomes public record. So, and we don't necessarily have the expertise on staff
to review that. So they do that review. They come back, whether it's on this
project or ... or any of the many others that we've looked at, and tell us whether
there is a gap and, you know, what some of the assumptions are with that. Now,
having said that, you know, I'm I think in the same camp as you. I would prefer
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to never give another TIF as long as I'm on Council. Um, I would much prefer
that private companies do it on their own dollar instead of on ... using some of the
public's dollar. Unfortunately that's not the circumstances that we're in. And ... I
think it's very, uh, very difficult, if not impossible, for us to second guess what a
private developer's going to do if we sit here and say, even after we've had the
analysis done with the National Development Council and they say there's a gap,
and we say, well, you know what, we think they'll do it anyways, even if we don't
give `em the money, even though there is a gap. You don't know, and so I think
all we can do is use the best information that we have in front of us to make that
decision and that to me is using the analysis that the National Development
Council does for us, to say that there is a gap here that there is logical reason for
us to assist in, and then ... so, I will vote yes based on that.
Throgmorton: Uh huh.
Markus: Jim, I ... I'd like to kind of interject as well. The gap gets you ... maybe some
metric that tells you that there is a difference between an equity investment and
maybe what the, um, financial markets are willing to stick into the particular
development, and then, uh, NDS, uh, NDC does this, um ... evaluation that tells us,
um, what by national standards the differential looks at, and one of the
discussions we're having amongst staff is, just because there's that gap doesn't
necessarily mean that we have to ... um, get into a TIF arrangement or meet that
full gap. And so in this particular case, I can tell you that the developer wanted
more. Um, we negotiated to this level. I'd say 75% of this is ... is um ... financial
analysis, but 25% of this is somewhat subjective decision making, and so it's, you
know, you're fond of talking about , and I can tell you that we stress a lot
about, uh, that 25% decision, and just because a gap, um, results doesn't
necessarily mean that we need to fill that gap. So ... there's a lot of give and take
on these things and... and I think also that the agreement and the terms of the
agreement, uh, get negotiated. Jeff and I and Wendy talk about the evolution of
how we approach these things, and we move from upfront contribution to a rebate
model, which we think provides a ... an additional level of security to the City in
terms of kind of a conservative approach to financing these things. I think as we
go along we're going to become even more, uh, heavily scrutinizing these things.
Having said that, the Moen project is the last one, The Chauncey project, that we
agreed on a upfront. Every one since has been a rebate. But I think once you
move into ... even into the rebate discussion, I think we're constantly looking for
ways to protect the City. My contention is that if you didn't have other cities
doing this, if you didn't have other states doing this, that the peer marketplace
would be making the decisions, and I think what happens when you have these
incentives is that it creates some false economies and it jumpstarts projects
probably, uh, before the natural economy would take over and permit them. And
then it creates kind of a spiral effect where I think you see in our specific area that
you have projects get developed prematurely, and they put pressure on the
existing businesses, and so the spiral continues. And until ... and we have, and I
can ... and Jeff can tell you because he's ... works with the legislature a lot on these
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issues, that we're kind of the lone spokesperson about, you know, legislative
controls on TIF, and ... I'm, you know, I'm very reluctant on doing these deals. I
don't ... it's not ... I'm a traditionalist. I just don't like the government's
involvement in these things to begin with, but as long as these incentives exist, as
long as this community wishes to, um, be in the economic development game,
there's going to be some level of demand on us for incentives, and what we have
to do, and it's a tough thing to pull off, is ensure that we are investing the least
amount possible to get the job done. You know ... and in end negotiations, it's not
always a win-win situation. Sometimes somebody betters the other party in the
negotiation. We all know that happens, and... you know, I would hope that we get
better at it. I think as our team matures, we're evolving as to how we do these
deals, but ... I think at the end of the day we try to ... to get to that point where we
put as little in as possible to make the project work, and ... I mean, Mr. Arlotti's
here today. He can ... he can verify that they actually wanted more and we made
our offer and said that's it. And then we negotiated, as Eleanor will tell you, all
the way through the contractual provisions of that agreement, as well. So these
are kinda hard fought, discussed determinations, but I'd say 25% of it just comes
down to judgment at the end of the day. Um, I don't think we've gone to the
extent that some of the other cities in this state have. Um, and I would hope we
get better at it, but I need to be competitive on behalf of the City, and I think
we're going to need to tools to continue to be ... to be better. I would like to see
some State reforms! And quite frankly, we're a lone voice in ... in many of the
municipal circles in that regard but I think that there's still reform that's needed.
Throgmorton: Well said!
Mims: Yeah I would just (several talking) I'm sorry. I just want to piggyback real
quickly on one thing that Tom said because I think it's really crucial, and that is...
you said if we want to stay in the economic game, and that is absolutely essential
if we're going to continue to grow our tax base and be able to pay for the services,
and manage our tax levy. It's absolutely essential!
Hayek: Kingsley?
Botchway: Um, I can't remember... cause I was going to (both talking) No, I think you...
you've ... you know, you kind of, uh, mentioned the exact thing maybe I was
going to say, or a ... along those lines, but uh, you know, again, I'm ... I'm going to
support it, um, simply because , you know, I think that, uh, your question, uh, at
least from my standpoint, could have been answered in a different way. Um, you
know, you can look at the contractual... oh, my point was was whether or not... I
don't know, we could do a better job from a ... from a media standpoint or
something along those lines of letting people know the time and effort it takes to
get to these, you know ... to these agreements. I think that it's just ... it's thought
that we come up here, um, a TIF is proposed, and all of a sudden we take five
minutes and vote, and that's all the time it takes ... that's all the time that's, you
know, put into account when there's, you know, hours and hours of staff time.
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That's a part of it, as well, and I think that ... I don't know how we can present
that, but I think it would really help the overall discussion, at least in Iowa City,
regards ... in regards to how we handle TIF. Um, but on another note, um, you
know, I can't ... to answer your question, and that ... another sense is that I ... I think
this is a city need, you know, I mean, you're looking at it from, you know, the
standpoint of whether or not the owners of the particular development, um, you
know, see this as a need, but I think you know the balance, as far as I'm
concerned, is heavily weighted on the City's side to provide a no ... another, um,
more economic development in the area that I think seriously needs it, and I think
will speak to that particular area. So, you know, that's where my ... that's where
my balance, um, occurred and you know, again, I feel like it's heavily weighted
in favor of the City, especially for, you know, such a ... a small amount of money
(noise on mic, unable to hear) So...
Hayek: Well I ... I ... I agree and I ... among the things I was going to indicate was it's ... it's
not necessarily apparent when you're watching a ... a meeting like this just how
much planning and deliberation, and vetting proposals like this go through. Um,
and having served on the Economic Development Committee, that ... that
reviewed this, and talked to our economic development team, I mean, I know
personally that ... that in particular this, uh, has gone through a remarkable degree
of analysis... negotiation... calculation, and um ... uh, and ... and this coming from,
uh, an econom... economic development team headed by our City Manager, that is
generally skeptical of these things and does not wish to spend, you know, any
more than ... than necessary, uh, to ... to accomplish the objectives we ... we think is
important for us. Um, but as, Susan, you know, you pointed out. The
environment is such that we ... we have to be competitive as a city. Um ... uh, and
...and uh, this is an example, prime example, you know, cause and effect — how
this, how we got to a 40% vacancy rate. Everyone knows how that occurred.
Um, and ... and uh, this is an opportunity. So switching from that, I just want to
focus on ... on what I think is an absolutely fantastic, um ... uh, future for this area,
you know, um, I think ... I think it can transform the area. It's a .... it's an area that
we've invested heavy, uh, public infrastructure, uh, into as well, which is
important. Um, and I think it can be transformative for not only this space, but
the retail area around it and ... and the provisions of...of services in this, uh,
portion of the community, and I'm hearing, uh... nothing but positive comments
from the people I speak to about... about, you know, what they anticipate, um,
using the ... the, uh, the site for and ... and ... and you know, what they'll ... what
they'll enjoy going forward. So I think this is an excellent outcome for us. Um,
and I ... and uh, it's ... it's great. So I ... this has my full support, but you're right,
Kingsley, this does not ... we don't ... we have to be paying very close attention,
um, to fully appreciate all that goes into a decision by the time it gets to us. So...
Markus: And I ... I think it's important to understand the history and not cast dispersions,
but remember depending on whose numbers you use, it took $14 to 16 million to
move the previous tenant out of this location. What we're proposing is to bring a
new tenant back in for $1,750,000. So there's a dramatic difference, and the other
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thing I would say is the type of user you had before typically is not considered a,
you know, a frequent repeat, return customer as opposed to a grocery, which we
would hope would drive a lot more foot traffic into this area, and the way that
area is developed, we think that the shopping center itself is a, kind of a
gravitational force for pulling, um, business and foot traffic and car traffic to
serve the other businesses in that area. Um, it's our hope too that there's another,
uh, anchor that we've had confidential conversations with the developer on, um,
that we think would really push this over the top in terms of making this a very
viable a center again. So, um ... it's kinda where we're at. We, you know, we get
chastised for concentrating a lot of our effort in the downtown area, but this is a
... another part of the community that we're trying to show some investment, like
we did with Towncrest and some other areas, and so ... we think this is worth the
effort and uh, we're counting on the developer to make this a s ... a success. So...
Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 6-1, Throgmorton in the
negative.
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ITEM 11. CERTIFICATION OF URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS - RESOLUTION
DIRECTING THE FILING OF CERTIFICATION UNDER IOWA CODE
SECTION 403.19 FOR THE 2014 END OF YEAR CERTIFICATION OF
URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS.
Mims: Move the resolution.
Payne: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion?
Throgmorton: Yeah, I'd like to say something about this. (clears throat) With total respect for
the staff, I, uh, especially Wendy who put this together, uh, I ... if...what ... I think
we need to find a better way of... of communicating to the general public about
TIF, how it's used, what it does with regard to increasing property tax values in
particular locations, and what that means in terms of how property tax revenues
accrue over time. So that there's a very clear, ordinary language, kind of
explacation of where we stand with regard to how much money has been put into
various kinds of TIFs and urban renewal projects. How much the property tax
value ... I'm sorry, property values have increased, and that ... that parts pretty
clear, but how much property tax revenue has been generated as of... a specific
moment in time. I ... when I read, uh, the report and then all the appendix
associated with it, I find myself just getting completely lost in all sorts of data,
and all sorts of, um, language that I'm sure very few people in the public would
be able to track. Therein lies a key political challenge for us in this city. We have
to find a much better way of communicating clearly the actual benefits to ... uh, to
the City, and hence to the public of Iowa City.
Markus: And one of the things that happened in the TIF amendments, um, was an
additional reporting requirement, and that's what you're seeing played out here.
And I think what's going to happen is the State's going to take that data, use that
data to determine if there's additional litigation, or um, legislation that needs to be
amended, and I think we can replicate what they do in their report back on what
they're finding in TIF, and relate it directly to what's happening here in Iowa
City. We have prided ourselves on getting some of these things paid down, um, a
lot quicker than, uh, some other projects that we are aware of. So we can do that
kind of promotion. Um, a community did one here in Iowa and quite frankly I
read the...
Hayek: Dubuque?
Markus: ...brochure and it was just a little bit, I think it was a little bit more aggressive
than would be acceptable in Iowa City. So, we can take a lead from that and
probably tone it down and ... and make it applicable to our community.
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Throgmorton: So do you definitely hear what I'm suggesting (both talking) ordinary language
that people can track.
Hayek: Yeah, it's ... no, it's not a bad concept, and I think ... I think one thing that gets lost
as we take up proposals like this from time to time is a sense of perspective. I
mean ... and this is one of the things that has amazed me, uh, to ... in my service on
the Council. If you look at how much ... how much TIF activity we engage in,
relative to other communities, especially in the immediate area, we are a tiny
fraction of it, and yet the level of public scrutiny on anything we do related to this
is off the charts. I think that's part culture. I think it's in part because our local
media cover community outside of Iowa City the way they do Iowa City. Um,
but that creates this dichotomy that is very interesting, uh, to me and I think
maybe one thing we can address through more public information.
Markus: I think, you know, there's ... in a lot of places around the country there's this
standard for `but for,' and usually that applies to the initial determination whether
to provide TIF or not. But for TIF, this project wouldn't proceed. And we don't
have that criteria ensconced in our state law. But I think the other part of it is is...
um, with the amount of monies that we provide, and especially now that we're
doing it on rebate, I think a very sound argument can be made that ... all of it's
occurring after this project, and you can show the increment that's occurring
there. So we're ... we're actually talking about in ... internally to staff, different
approaches to deal with some of these development agreements that may make it
safer for us, and may make it easier to show the public the before or after impact
of using that ... that incentive.
Hayek: Good comments! Anything further? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 13. COOPERATIVE CONVERSION ORDINANCE - ORDINANCE
AMENDING TITLE 17, BUILDING AND HOUSING, CHAPTER 10,
CONDOMINIUM CONVERSION CODE, TO READ —CONDOMINIUM
AND MULTIPLE HOUSING COOPERATIVE CONVERSION CODEII;
AND ADDING SECTION 17-10-2, —MULTIPLE HOUSING
COOPERATIVE CONVERSION CODE TO GOVERN CONVEYANCES
OF BUILDINGS TO MULTIPLE HOUSING COOPERATIVES.
Payne: Move approval of the ordinance.
Throgmorton: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Throgmorton. Discussion?
Karr: This is second consideration.
Payne: Move second consideration of the oder... ordinance!
Throgmorton: Sounds good to me!
Hayek: Further discussion (laughter) move something! Roll call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 18. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION.
Hayek: We'll start down with the good Dr.!
Dobyns: Hey, Michelle, do you imagine what the top ten small metro communities are for
the elderly?
Payne: No, tell us, Rick!
Dobyns: The top ten communities, believe it or not, if you look at them ... and this is a
group, the Milken Foundation is a bipartisan group. All 10 actually are below 20
degrees Fahrenheit right now (laughter) which is pretty impressive for people
from California. But number one in this list is Iowa City, Iowa in terms of well-
being and (several talking) best place to live is Iowa City, Iowa. It's based on
outstanding health systems. Thank you very much! (laughter) And
transportation solutions and a solid economy — thanks to City staff! Chris
O'Brien. And health and wellness, and I just think that's fantastic! Just wanted
to pass that along! (laughter)
Payne: I have no comments... after that (laughter) Can't top that one!
Dickens: I'm going to speak at, uh, City High to two of the ELL classes on urban, suburban
and rural communities on, uh, Friday morning. I'm gonna just dazzle `em!
(laughter)
Throgmorton: I did that last year. It's fun to do!
Mims: Um, correct me if I'm wrong, Marian, League of Women Voter's is hosting ... are
they hosting the forum tomorrow night at 7:00 at the Library on the Iowa City
Charter... for the Iowa City... input for the Iowa City Charter Commission? Okay,
thank you! (several talking) It was on mine, but I wanted to make sure I had it
right.
Throgmorton: Two things. Uh, at 2:00 P.M. on Friday, this coming Friday the 21St, the second
of three artists will be discussing ideas, his ideas about a potentially icon piece of
art near Blackhawk Mini -Park. So it'll be in Room A, Public Library. Second
thing is, I'd like to report that I observed a fabulous, really fabulous multi -media
dance performance of "Healing Wars," an event, uh, performance called "Healing
Wars" at the University's Space Place Theater last weekend. It was really
stunning. So I want to praise the people who put it together, and ... and you know,
everybody involved in it.
Botchway: Well we recently, uh, during the work session, uh, went through the equity report,
and one of the findings was, you know, that our boards and commissions are, you
know, seriously lacking some diversity. Um, you know, Matt, or Mayor Hayek
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just literally went through a litany of, um, vacancies. I urge the community to
apply, I mean, I ... last time I think I Tweeted it out, put it on Facebook, vacancies
are still there. So you know ... (several talking) yeah, you know, we got ... you
gotta apply, so I mean it's just one of those things and so I'll try to bring it to
meetings and some other discussions that I'll be at, but ... gotta apply! So, apply!
Hayek: Especially for that Jefferson Street representative on Historic Preservation
(several talking) That's been open for ... (several talking)
Payne: Since the beginning!
Hayek: Yeah, since those windows went in probably, so (laughter) Uh, I have nothing
but I do want to just point out, uh, sticking with us thick and thin, uh, through
these long meetings are our student representatives, and they're sitting here in the
front row. There are three of them from the University of Iowa (applause) um...
they could be off doing a lot of things, but they are choosing to serve as liaisons,
uh, from the University community to the City, and they're valuable to what we
do. Uh, and I wanted to give them a shout out, even though you're not on, uh, the
camera, uh, you're here with us and your input is important. Thank you!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of November 18, 2014.
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ITEM 19. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF.
a) City Manager -
Hayek: Mr. Manager.
Markus: You know, in carrying on with that discussion, two of their predecessors are
working inside the manager's office right now, and they're doing a wonderful job
for us, and I almost see some sort of an addiction to this (laughter) city
government thing occurring there so (unable to hear response away from mic)
(laughter) Good! You can break it, huh? (laughter) Um, I wanted to mention we
have the employees', um, luncheon on Thursday and the Councilors are invited.
It's 11:00 to 1:30, but I think they wanted us to, uh, get suited up in aprons as we
have service duty on that day. Thanking our employees, and it's mutual, but it's
a ... it's a good interaction between Council and the employees. So ... I encourage
you to make it if you can!
Hayek: Geoff? City Attorney?
b) City Attorney —
Dilkes: Well I will say that one of the students, um, predecessors is finishing up his time
in the Peace Corps, Elliot Higgins, and is heading to law school. So I have been
in touch with him. He's in Indonesia right now and... (several talking) excited to
see him go to law school.
Hayek: I've kept in touch with him just a little bit over the last couple of years.
Mims: Good!
Dobyns: Wow, Peace Corps then law school! What a concept! (laughter)
Hayek: Highly recommend it! (laughs)
Throgmorton: Can medical school be far behind?
Dobyns: Yes! Unfortunately!
Hayek: I started law school too quickly after the Peace Corps and had a problem with, uh,
learning English again but ... (laughter) Such is life! City Clerk?
c) City Clerk —
Karr: Uh, just a quick note. You'll be seeing a lot of publicity coming out very quickly
on the 1751 birthday celebration for the City of Iowa City. Uh, it's December 5,
6, and 7. It's in conjunction with a lot of, um, happenings going on in the
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of November 18, 2014.
Payne:
Karr:
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downtown area, as well. It'll start with Friday evening, with a ... a, some, a State
association water color show at Senior Center. It goes into Saturday with open
houses in the Police and Fire Departments. Um, it, uh, Saturday evening we'll
have a... a very special winter fireworks display. Um, and then Sunday we have
birthday cake and music and ... lot of history, um, so you'll be getting more
information coming out on that.
We're supposed to sign up to serve the cake, aren't we?
We are hoping that current and former Mayors and Council Members would love
to join us at the Library to serve the birthday cake Sunday afternoon.
Botchway: Oh, buttercream ice cr... icing! I ... I really don't like whipped! (laughter)
Karr: Good to know! (laughter and several talking)
Hayek: You really are high maintenance! (laughter)
Markus: Matt, I think it's important to note that ... Marian Karr picked this up and ran with
it, and has done yeomans work in pulling this all together.
Hayek: She has!
Markus: Fairly short notice and, in addition to everything else she's doing. So...
Hayek: It's going to be great and...
Markus: We appreciate her efforts!
Throgmorton: Will Emma be here?
Karr: Emma may be making a special appearance! (laughter)
Botchway: The way to send it over the top is the buttercream icing!
Karr: The butter... got it! Duly noted.
Payne: Move...
Hayek: Thank you, uh, Marian! Okay, we need a motion.
Payne: Motion to adjourn.
Dickens: Second (several responding)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of November 18, 2014.
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Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dickens (several talking) Discussion? All those
in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Sloppy, but we are adjourned and have a
good evening. (bangs gavel)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of November 18, 2014.