HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-12-16 TranscriptionDecember 16, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page I
Council Present: Botchway, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Hargadine, Bockenstedt, Dilkes, Karr, Hart, Yapp,
Bowers, O'Brien, Frank, Boothroy, Andrew, Fosse, Bramel, Dulek, Elias
Others Absent: McCarthy (UISG)
Questions from Council re: Agenda Items:
ITEM 4d(2) CARTER ESTATE — RESOLUTION APPROVING FINAL PLAT OF
CARTER ESTATE
Hayek/ Go ahead and get started with our December 16, 2014 work session. Want to welcome
everyone to City Hall. First bullet point is questions from Council regarding agenda
items. I do want to note that, uh, Item 4d(2), which is a final plat on Carter Estate,
um ... we've been asked to defer that until January 6t". When I mention, uh, when I call
up the item, um ... the Consent Calendar item, I'll just embed that in the motion.
ITEM 4d(7) WINTER EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER — RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY LOCAL
HOMELESS COORDINATING BOARD'S WINTER EMERGENCY
TEMPORARY SHELTER PROJECT
Dobyns/ Are we going to have a chance to talk about the winter shelter. I forget ... is it on the
agenda for our work session (mumbled)
Payne/ Yep! It's 4d(7). I was going to ask if we were going to leave that in the Consent, or if
we were going to take it out.
Dobyns/ (mumbled)
Payne/ Talk about it?
Hayek/ Well I think there may be people here to talk about it tonight, but I mean it can ... it can
be in the Consent. You can still speak to the Consent Calendar, you know. Typically the
reason we would pull something is, um ... you know, if people think they might be voting
against it. Um, but we can certainly pull it, uh, and I can ... I can pull both the one I
mentioned, 4d(2) and the ... the shelter item, 4d(7) for separate consideration.
Payne/ It just highlights it for the public to...
Hayek/ I'll do that!
Payne/ ....I don't know.
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Dobyns/ I was wondering if someone on City staff could. Just...I'm just sort of curious about the
history, um, of ... the winter shelter, what the City has done in the past, and um .... can
anyone speak to that or...
Markus/ Geoff can speak to that.
Fruin/ I don't know that we've ever had, um, had a proposal like this, um, certainly not that I'm
aware of. I think in years past there's been an effort, um, to ... to staff a similar type of
shelter with volunteers and, uh, probably because of the reliance on volunteers. It just
wasn't a very sustainable or successful program. Um, last year we had folks in our City
Hall and Police lobby, um, during this time of year, and that wasn't an ideal situation.
We don't have the facilities really to accommodate that. Um, and we don't have any type
of supervisory staff to ... to monitor what went on. So, um, what led us to this point is
really months of...of...of talks at the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, um, level as
they expor ... explored different solutions. Um ... this isn't a long-term solution, uh, in
their minds, but until they can get their Housing First initiative really off the ground, this
was the best short-term solution that that group developed.
Dobyns/ Needs to be just some sort of (clears throat) discussions that we had with other members
of the, sort of the community, uh, both municipal and not-for-profit in terms of
participation?
Fruin/ Uh, we ... we haven't directly as staff had those conversations, uh, but the ... the
Coordinating Board, um, I think recognizes, as do we, that this is a regional issue and it
re ... it requires a regional solution. Uh, the funding needs for the shelter, I believe, were
around $67,000 of cash, and that's discounting the in-kind contributions. So, um, they
fully expect to have other partners in order to ... they ... they need to have `em in order
to ... to really pull this off. Um, so ... uh, Crissy may be here tonight, can speak to the
status of those requests. I know that she, on behalf of the Local, uh, Homeless
Coordinating Board, um, has made those, but I ... I have not heard the ... as to where those
stand.
Hayek/ So the ... the memo and the resolution make reference to it being contingent on
participation by other, uh, municipalities, but without defining what those amounts are
and ... and so, do we have a sense of the numbers? If we're being asked for $20 plus
another $13 and, uh, and in-kind.
Fruin/ The ... the budget that's outlined in their application, urn ... is roughly ... $67,000, um, I
believe. I don't ... I haven't pulled it up yet, but that's, um, that ...that seems about right.
Um, I don't know what the request of the other agencies have been, um ... uh, and I would
say that when they submitted their budget, they were anticipating a three-month period.
Um, now that we're mid -way through December and it's probably likely... early January
before they can get this off the ground, they may not need three months of service. So it
may shrink down to two months, which would ... would reduce staff time and ... and other
costs. So, it's pretty fluid, um, and the reason that we're before you with kind of a non-
traditional request, which is just to give the ... the Manager the authority is because it... it
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is a time -sensitive issue and if they can pull all the other partners together, we don't ... uh,
want to have to delay them by waiting to the 6th to present you with a more concrete
proposal or try to schedule a special meeting over the holidays.
Dickens/ I've heard from a lot of business owners down in the area, by Aldi's, that are less than
happy about having more ... you know ... there's already the shelter down there and there's
a lot of other things, and they ... I got a call (mumbled) said they were less than pleased
with the ... the placement of it, and I don't know (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, urn ... I know they evaluated several locations. The ... the tricky part, um, is finding
a property owner who... number one, has vacant space, um, two that is willing to ... to
leave it for this type of purpose on a short-term basis. Most are looking for long-term
leases and they don't necessarily want to, uh, tie up their property for those few months.
Um, and then three, this ... this requires a temporary use permit through the City, and so
there are housing code requirements that need to be checked. So, um, there may be a
vacant property but if the, um ... code requires a significant amount of investment to use it
as a shelter, that's going to be a major obstacle. So, urn ... this was the one property they
found where it didn't require a lot of up -front investment to meet the code, um, and two,
the property owner was willing to ... to lease it on a short-term basis.
Dobyns/ I guess my experience with this is that my, um ... church participated in this, um, as well
as a lot of other, uh, organizations, faith -based organizations, and it was a, um, I mean it
was quite an effort. I mean, everybody felt good about it, but you know, it wasn't easy
because of security issues, urn ... uh, a lot of people who just had no training in this. Um,
you know, were ... to have to stay up overnight, um, and that made me a little bit skittish,
um, so I like to see something like this....if we're going to do it, do it on a more
organized and reasonable level in terms of, uh... issues of security. Um, but I ... I agree,
Terry. It's like, you know, why this area? Why always this area? Urn ... and I think
rather than, you know, call out the other entities, Geoff, that, uh, could have participated,
um, I guess I'm just appreciative of Aldi's that they stepped forward, um ... to help with
this. Thank you, Geoff!
Hayek/ All right, any other questions on that particular item? Again, we'll pull it from the
Consent and do it separately. Other agenda items?
ITEM 9. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS.
Payne/ Are we going to talk (both talking)
Hayek/ Go ahead!
Payne/ ...sorry. I was going to say, are we going to talk about the Coun... the appointments?
Hayek/ Yeah!
Payne/ Separately?
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Hayek/ Yeah, that's just what I was going to (both talking)
Payne/ Oh, okay!
Hayek/ Yeah, so ... uh, it's not on here but we'll treat it as part of the agenda. We do have some
appointments to make, um ... to Council commissions, or to City commissions! Uh, we'll
just go in the order in which they appear. The first one is Board of Adjustment. Uh,
Constance Greb... or Goeb is the... reapplying. Currently serving an unexpired term.
Meets the requirement.
Mims/ Yep!
Hayek/ Is there interest in that? (several responding) Okay. Uh, let me do the other ones and
we'll come back to Human Rights, uh, cause I think the other ones'll be easy too. Uh,
Parks and Rec. We have, uh, David Bourgeois and uh, Lucie Laurian are the only
applicants. They are on their second term.
Throgmorton/ You know, it...it says that. I don't think that's true for Lucie Laurian, at least...
she says it's not, anyhow. She indicates that she's serving her first term. So I don't
know if she served an unexpir... part of an unexpired term before that or what, I don't
know, but ... I think it's ... just not true she's in her second full term, or just finishing her
second full term.
Hayek/ Well in any event there's no one else applying.
Throgmorton/ Right!
Hayek/ So is there support for those two? (several responding) Okay. Um, and then ... Public,
uh (several talking) Art.
Throgmorton/ Well John Engelbrecht's done very well, as best as I can tell on that so ... (several
talking) Go for it!
Hayek/ (several taking) ... for that.
Payne/ So we'll still have a one female re, uh, opening.
Mims/ But there's a second one ... that wasn't listed on the sheet.
Payne/ Oh, that's right! (several talking)
Mims/ Sayeire Sasaki Hamann.
Throgmorton/ What?
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Mims/ There's another one that's in the packet (both talking)
Hayek/ Her letter ... her letter appears before the application (several talking)
Mims/ Yeah, it's in the packet! It follows the other one. It just didn't get listed on that page.
So...
Hayek/ Yeah, so really we need to appoint her, or take no action and ... let the period expire.
Mims/ Right. So I would say appoint both of `em! That ... takes care of our gender and fills the
spots (several talking)
Hayek/ Yep! All right. Uh, and then Senior Center Commission. Mark Holbrook is up again.
Is everybody okay with that? (several responding)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, fine!
Hayek/ Okay. So that takes us to Human Rights. There's one spot.
Mims/ When I looked through these, I was, you know, number one we've got a gender balance
issue, so we're looking for a female. Um...
Throgmorton/ (mumbled)
Mims/ Yep, and so when I looked through these and looked at... um... you know, experience and
people's knowledge of the ... Human Rights Commission and that sort of stuff, um, the
one that stood out to me was Edie Pierce -Thomas. Um, I just thought that with
her... she's done that. It was at Tippicanoe, Indiana. She's done a lot of work on their,
uh, Human Rights Commission and just has, you know, a lot of experience in dealing
with, um, this kind of an organization and has been very active, and so ... that was really
the one that stood out to me.
Throgmorton/ She's applied many times before, as well, so ... I think she has considerable
interest.
Hayek/ I'd be okay with it!
Payne/ Me too! (several talking)
Botchway/ (mumbled)
Mims/ Hers starts on page 226 of the packet ... is her application.
Hayek/ I know (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ I think it's a, you know, fascinating commission that requires a certain ... kind of
balance, you know, with very ... a series of different concerns, uh, about, um, that have to
do with human rights. Uh, so I tried to think about that when I was looking at this, as
well, and I ended up thinking that, uh, Pierce -Thomas would be the best of the applicants,
but ... if the current balance of the commission was different, I might have come to a
different conclusion.
Hayek/ Okay, do we have a majority in favor of Miss Pierce -Thomas for HRC? (several
responding) Okay! Okay...
Throgmorton/ Are we still sort of on the, um, agenda items, Matt?
Hayek/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ Cause I ... I was waiting to hear if anybody else had something.
Hayek/ Go ahead, Jim!
ITEM 8. FAIR HOUSING COMPLAINTS - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 2
OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "HUMAN RIGHTS," CHAPTER 4,
ENTITLED "ENFORCEMENT," SECTION 2, ENTITLED
—INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS; PREDETERMINATION
SETTLEMENTII TO AMEND TIME PERIODS CONCERNING HOUSING
COMPLAINTS. (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Throgmorton/ On ... on Item 8, of, uh, of the agenda. Uh, where is it? The ... uh, I don't ... I don't
see any problems. It's a Human Rights, uh, amendments to the Human Rights
Ordinance. Uh, I don't ... I don't have any problems with the amendments, but unless I
misread something like ... with regard to that one, uh... uh, applicant for a commission, uh,
I ... I noticed that the staff memo does not include a third amendment that had been
recommended by the Commission. And that amendment was to remove presence or
absence of dependence as a protected category in the area of housing. You know, so I
wonder if something was missing from what I was reading, but ... but uh... could...
Stefanie, could you speak to that, please? Um, I'm just puzzled by why it's not included
or...
Bowers/ It wasn't included because one of the Commissioners, um, had expressed by his vote
that he didn't think there should be changes to the ordinance, and urn ... after myself and
the other staff person in the office thought about it, it's really not a problem to keep it the
way it is, and so we decided to not make any changes concerning (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Okay, so just one ... I just want to be clear about this. So the Commission
recommended three amendments.
Bowers/ Correct.
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Throgmorton/ But two are being forwarded to us and recommended, uh, by the staff, is that
correct?
Bowers/ That's correct, and the two that are being recommended by staff are procedural changes.
They're not substantive changes.
Throgmorton/ (both talking) ...noticed that. Yeah. Okay. I ... I'm not ... not hostile to that
recommendation. I just wanted to be clear about why ... what was going on.
Hayek/ Thanks, Stefanie! Any other agenda items? Okay! Let's move on to, uh, review of
proposed taxi regulations. Someone from the staff?
Throgmorton/ That's a whole crew! (laughter)
Review of Proposed Taxi Regulations (IP3 of 12/11 & IP4 of 11/25):
Hart/ Thanks for having us! My name's Doug Hart. I'm with the Iowa City Police Department.
Next to me is Sgt. Frank who works the late-night watch. On my left is, uh, Simon from
the City Manager's office, and Sue Dulek from the City Attorney's office. Uh, we're
here tonight to discuss our proposal for a City ordinance changes regarding taxicabs.
Um ... this is in response to a series of sexual assaults that occurred in early 2014. Uh,
after which Chief Hargadine, uh, came to City Council and pre... presented a memo with
...suggesting several, uh... had several suggestions on how we could improve public
safety for that. At that time, the City Council, uh, gave us some direction, including
meeting with taxicab owners, taxicab businesses, and to, uh... uh, feel them out as far as
what they thought about, uh, Chief Hargadine's suggestions, and also to explore, um, the
uh... Uber taxicab model that was emerging at the time. Um, we did follow up both those
recommendations, meeting with, uh, taxicab companies in early September, with a forum
that was advertised and personal invitations were sent to. Uh, very good discussion was
had and we took those, uh... uh, comments and suggestions back to us. Also in
September we met with, uh, twice with Uber representatives about their business model
and discussed, uh, how we could incorporate that business model and uh... um, into Iowa
City. So as we proceeded, um, we really looked at five things, or there's five goals that
we, uh, kept in mind as we proceeded, and the first one was, uh... uh, that the Police
Department needs timely and accurate information on vehicles and drivers. Our second
one was that consumers need to be able to identify vehicles and drivers. The third is that
the vehicle needs to be safe. The fourth is the driver needs to be a good driver and then
the last one is fair pricing. As we proceeded, uh, drafting with the idea, um, that the
regulations for the traditional taxicab businesses and their vehicles and drivers need to be
the same as those of the ride -sharing businesses, such as Uber and their vehicles and
drivers, with limited exceptions. Um, the people here at the table here tonight are here to,
uh... uh, answer any questions that you have about our proposal that we had, or take
additional direction from the City Council.
Hayek/ Go ahead.
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Botchway/ So I have a whole bunch of questions! Um ... and I guess I'll start off with, uh,
something Jim I thought mentioned a long time ago about ... and maybe this is for a
different discussion, and so, guys, kind of like reel me back in, but we talked about how,
you know, the taxicab network would be something we would talk about, as far as overall
transportation across Johnson County. Was that ... isn't that something you said before?
Throgmorton/ Uh huh.
Botchway/ Is this going to ... I mean ... I don't know if this was a part of this discussion or are we
gonna maybe talk about that bef... later on or ... I guess I...
Hayek/ You mean like expanding a taxi authority beyond Iowa City?
Botchway/ No. I thought we just talked about how they fit into the framework of...the entire
Iowa... or, at least for our case, the entire Iowa City transportation network. Um, and I
guess this is specifically focused on just changes, but I ... I thought it was going to be in
conjunction... with. And maybe I'm...
Payne/ I guess I don't remember the context of the... comment that Jim made.
Hayek/ I don't remember it either.
Throgmorton/ Well it was in one of our prior discussions, I just indicated that it...it seemed
puzzling to me that we would be considering changes to the taxi re ... to the regulations
concerning the taxi industry, without taking into account its ... how it fits into the overall
transportation system, and ... and I think I expressed the view that, uh, it seemed to me
we ... we needed to be thin ... be thinking about how to do that, uh, and it was kind of
puzzling that, uh, the regulations would be developed by the ... with due respect, with
...by the City Clerk's office, or in this case, by the Police Department and so on. It ... it
just made no sense to me, but I ... but in this particular instance, I guess we're, you know,
we're focusing on changes to the regulations as they currently exist.
Botchway/ Well and so the reason why I asked the question is because one of the particular ones
is on page ... on the second page when it talks about notable changes to the current code,
the first one being airport shuttles. Staff do not believe the continuum of regulating
airport shuttles furthered any of the five goals, and while that ... might be true from that
standpoint, I just remember being, um, an individual who had no car, um, and needed
airport shuttles a ton and if there was not going to be a regulation on it, we would be
drastically changing, um, students that don't necessarily have cars or can't access
transportation, and I'm wondering how we're going to ... or if we even, um, considering...
how that affects, you know ... I guess the student population, I mean, I ... I don't know
your opinion on that, but I'm just ... I was thinking about myself as far as that was
concerned
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Dulek/ Well it just means that we're not going to regulate them. They can continue to operate
their business however they want, but they don't have to follow any of our rules or
requirements. So I don't ... think it affects it at all in that sense.
Botchway/ Okay.
Mims/ Are they...
Botchway/ I guess this goes from a 35...I mean if it's like $35...I can't remember if that's the
case before, but then you know the charge could be like upwards of...
Dulek/ We don't regulate price on anybody.
Botchway/ Oh, okay! Well never mind!
Dulek/ Right, yeah.
Botchway/ All right, never mind. I took that wrong. Okay. The other question I have was the
exception that allows dispatching not to be done from, uh... from the office from
midnight to 6:00 A.M. I've just been ... I guess talking to, uh, some of the smaller
business owners and I was ... just thinking what if the office is their own vehicle? Like I
guess ... do they have to maintain a brick and mortar office in order to ... run currently or
to follow this particular regulation?
Hart/ Can you ask that again?
Botchway/ So, basically, um ... this exception, the exception that allows dispatching not to be
done from the Police Department needs to be able to contact the business at night, and so
they're going to need to run dispatching through the office from midnight to 6:00 A.M.
Hart/ Correct.
Botchway/ But then my question is is ... can't that office be their own personal vehicle? I mean
we're requiring people to have a ... from just my interpretation of it like a standing office.
Hart/ Correct.
Botchway/ So I guess the ... my overall question is is that fair?
Frank/ Well I think it goes back to the ... the idea of safety. Uh, the goal is to not ... the goal has
always been to not have anybody dispatching from a vehicle, to not be driving, taking
phone calls, uh, from a vehicle while they're... while they're operating, while they have
passengers, um, to ... and to be in one location that we can ... that we can access them.
And it... so if they're in a vehicle, all of those things come into play.
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Dulek/ Currently you have to have a brick and mortar office. What you don't have to do is ... is
operate from that office from midnight to 6:00. That's the change. The brick and mortar
office exists today. That's been a requirement for quite some time.
Botchway/ Some of the other questions came when focusing on the, like the network,
um ... taxicabs, and I was just interested from, kind of a ... uh, wording analysis. So,
basically if I destar... if I decided to start a network, if I was a current taxicab business
owner and I destar... I decided to start a network taxicab business, I could then just
change to be under the other const ... the other framework of how we're defining network
taxicab? So my question specifically focuses on maybe small business owners that
maybe own one or two taxis. I would just then develop an app or develop something and
then be under the network taxicab regulation?
Andrew/ Yes, so long as you're able to provide that information to the passenger prior to the
ride, and provide that electronic receipt, then um, yeah, you're not subject to all the same,
uh, dome light requirements and uh... color schemes, things like that. Basically the
difference is, if you're not, um, if you're not available to be hailed, and we're not
depending on the passenger to remember the company or the driver's information, um,
then you're not a ... you don't have to follow those other same requirements. If that
makes sense.
Mims/ Then ... to clarify wording under the vehicle requirements, um ... and I ... I think 91 should
be a, and #2 should be b. Because all of a sudden there's a #c, or a letter c. Um, for c it
says in order to solicit passengers, be hailed, or be dispatched to a passenger, a taxicab
business, a drive must be meet the following requirements. It talks about taximeter,
lettering requirement, lighted dome, etc. Should that say a `metered taxicab business?'
Because I thought as I read this... again, I'm under the vehicle requirements, c.
Payne/ Are you on like page 6?
Mims/ Uh, yes, page 6! It's c, but there's no a and b. (laughs) Um ... I...
Hayek/ I ... I think you're on a different (both talking)
Mims/ I ... I thought ... I'm on 11/25 because that's the one that I had highlighted. (laughs)
Hayek/ See, we've got a ... we're, uh, yeah, the -the one in the current packet I think has different
(both talking)
Mims/ Did they ... but the wording was all the same, isn't it? (several talking)
Karr/ Yes, the wording is the same, and you're on page 6 of the ordinance itself.
Mims/ Yes! Thank you (several talking) Yep! Page (both talking)
Payne/ ....a and a b and a c.
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Mims/ Pardon?
Hayek/ They may have corrected your...
Mims/ Okay!
Hayek/ ...thing you're pointing out.
Mims/ Um, yeah, I'm sorry, I went back to this one cause it's the one I had highlighted (laughs)
when we got the first ... got it the first time. But on c ... it talks about the taxicab business
must meet the following require ... and the driver must meet the following requirements.
But my interpretation was the things with the taximeter, the lettering, and the lighted
dome only required to a metered business. Is that correct?
Andrew/ Correct. And I think the intention with this is that in order to solicit passengers, then a
taxi business must have the following. That if you're going to be able to be flagged down
or to try and solicit a passenger on the street, then you have to have those requirements.
Mims/ So I guess my question was for clarification would it make sense in ... in letter c to say a
metered taxicab business, because we give those definitions at the very beginning,
between a network taxicab business versus a metered taxicab business, just so there's...
not confusion. Does that make sense?
Andrew/ Absolutely (several talking)
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Botchway/ Another question I had was, um, how will the number for... going back to, um...
network, as stated earlier we believe that networked taxicabs, I think that's page 6, um,
how will 4a be enforced? Uh, networked drivers cannot respond to a street hail. As a
result it cannot, for example, pull up to the curb at bar closing and pick up passengers,
unless the ride was previously arranged via the app. If I was ... if I was a network driver, I
would just do it. How would ... how would it be ... how would it be enforced?
Hart/ Um, first of all those vehicles will not be required to have any markings on' em, so they'll
be ... not be readily identifiable to a consumer as being a hailed form, or ... or...
Botchway/ Right.
Hart/ ...a hailed service to them but it's still possible that we do it. Then it'd be incumbent on
the Police Department to either initiate or respond to, uh, complaints or calls for service,
uh, regarding those particular...
Dobyns/ But if we hear no complaints, that person basically becomes a gypsy taxicab driver
(both talking)
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Hart/ Right, and ... and then it falls on the Department for the enforcement and monitoring of that.
Botchway/ Okay.
Andrew/ (away from mic) ... significantly different from the way things are now. If an
individual on the street coming home from the bar at bar close wants to provide
somebody a ride for money, that isn't something that's easily enforced right now, and I
don't think would be a significant change with Uber cars operating.
Dobyns/ (mumbled) I'm trying to envision something that I can't envision, but I assume... what
kind of driver is an Uber driver? I mean, is this something that you're looking for some
extra money and you're getting involved in the network, well, you know, if you're
interested, you're probably going to drive around at a time when there is an increased
need. Well I would just ... I guess what Kingsley, uh, talked about I ... I could envision
happening because you're out, waiting for someone to email you. If the email, and if the
phone isn't ringing, and you see people looking like they want a ride...
Andrew/ Sure.
Dobyns/ ...I mean, I think there's...
Botchway/ The difference for me is that we're ... we're now telling on the previous page ... now I
can't find it. We're now telling, um, current taxicab companies that they need to, um,
have ster... certain stipulations as far as decal requirements, must operate a minimum of
four cars, must have a unique color scheme, but ... I mean, if it was me, the easier way to
do it would just to be, um, an Uber driver and ... I ... I guess I'm ... I'm looking at the
fairness between the two of `em, and it just seems like we're heavily weighting it on,
um... for this particular thing, on one side, especially if there's no enforcement outside of
possible complaints.
Hart/ The ... Uber ... Uber drivers will be required to have a decal in ... in there also, so there will
be some distinction there, but there ... there certainly is more requirements for, uh, our
traditional taxicab models, and the basis of that is, uh, because they are allowed by the
current City ordinance in the proposal here to ... to pick up drivers, either by hail or by
phone, uh, the difference in the business model with the ... such as Uber, is there's a
transaction or there's some mediation that occurs prior to the ... to that, uh, service taking
place, which includes, uh... information being sent to the consumer electronically where
they had ... they know what vehicle they're getting into. They have a picture of the driver,
and they have information accessible to time that they can compare the time of the ride,
uh, to provide them the opportunity to ... to, uh, you know, be safe.
Dilkes/ And that, Doug, is information then that the Police Department can access if you need to
identify...
Hart/ That is correct, yes.
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Dilkes/ ...the driver and the vehicle.
Hart/ Yes. Thank you. Yes.
Payne/ I mean, I ... I think I look at it here like we have lots of ordinances that are enforced by
complaint, lots and lots and lots, and second of all, the consumer has some responsibility
here too, to not just get in anybody's car. So, I mean, we're ... I think that overall, it's...
what we're doing is improving, but yes we probably still have some loopholes, because
we have Uber, places like Uber coming in. So ... but they still have to have that decal, I
mean, and ... you know, they should begetting an email. They shouldn't just jump in a
car.
Dobyns/ And I realize I don't want to over -speculate, I mean, this is a rapidly evolving industry.
Hayek/ Sure.
Payne/ You could go ... pick somebody up and give `em a ride home.
Dobyns/ I show `em my Uber card (laughter) and say `ride with me!' You know!
Throgmorton/ I'd never ride with you, Rick! (laughter)
Dobyns/ That's cause you've seen me drive! (laughter)
Hayek/ I sure have. Uh... uh, what would stop a, uh... either a driver or a metered company from
also ... uh, operating in ... in a network fashion? Could you go back and forth?
Hart/ Yes, and that's ... I think that's one thing that, uh, is unique about this ordinance is you can
operate as a ... a traditional taxicab. You can adopt a, uh, network taxicab form, in
addition to what you're doing; however, that does not apply for ... the other way, because
you, uh, because or unless an Uber driver or a network taxicab driver wants to, uh, fall
within the regulations of a metered taxicab, by having a dome, um, or a color scheme, if
that goes forward.
Hayek/ Yeah. Yeah, but if you had the vehicle... you had a vehicle that met those requirements,
and you were networked, could you not do both?
Hart/ You could.
Hayek/ And choose based on demand or whatever.
Hart/ Correct.
Hayek/ To...
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Payne/ And the way I read this, it's... definitely leads you to believe that it can be both ... you
could be both ways. I mean I .... I definitely interpret it that way. You could be ... just
what you said — the taxi and the network, but not the network and the taxi.
Hart/ Correct.
Payne/ Cause you have to have all those requirements.
Andrew/ And we really just focused on what information, uh, the Police would need in an
investigation or what information the passenger needs and however you're available to
deliver that information, then that's fine with us, that it's really just focused on the safety
aspect narrowly.
Botchway/ So ... I'm go ... going back to the dispatching from an accessible office. I guess ... I
don't know, I just ... I ... I guess that's... so from an u ... from a Uber standpoint, there's no
accessible office... in this city.
Andrew/ Correct.
Botchway/ And they're being dispatched by the app, or whatever form of communication. I ... I
just don't see it as ... not necessarily has to be equal, but I just feel like if you're going to
request that they have an accessible office for one, I don't see why you wouldn't ... and I
understand that the app plays a role, and that there's you know regional partners and all
that type of stuff, but... and I know that you just talked about the fact that, you know, you
... or no, you talked about the fact that you don't want to dispatch while you're driving
and I understand the safety behind that, but...
Payne/ But isn't the whole point (several talking) the assess ... the accessibility of the data? And
they want to be able to access the data 24/7. And with the ... with the app, they can access
it 24/7. So they need to make the taxi accessible 24/7 too, and the only way to do that is
make them be able to dispatch, every ... 24/7 from their office.
Botchway/ And that's great, that's where my next point was going, but how do you, like I'm
trying to figure out how you do that and so you're ... the information that you're talking
about from ... from Uber would just be the name, or the requirements ... whatever the
requirements are, name, date of birth, whatever the case may be, but you wouldn't
necessarily... you'd still have to contact that particular driver. There would be no way
that you could talk to a main office first, and so why would we require...
Mims/ The license plate number too, right?
Hart/ Yeah, I believe that is correct. So the ... the information from u ... the consumer would have
that information available to them, and we'd also be able to access that with the regional
representative, uh, electronically.
Dickens/ Would they have the same insurance and liability that we require that (mumbled)
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Hart/ Yes, that's correct.
Dickens/ And they have to do that before they can (several talking)
Payne/ It's in the ordinance.
Mims/ Speaking of insurance, while you went there, um, can you explain to me in what
situations, I mean it says the insurance company must be authorized to do insurance
business in the State of Iowa, and be acceptable to the City. When would we run into a
situation where they're authorized to do business in the State of Iowa but as a city we
would decide that they're not acceptable?
Dulek/ I ... I couldn't answer that question. Melissa Miller would be able to.
Mims/ Okay, she's our Risk person?
Dulek/ It's a ... yeah, right, and it's a typical provision that it's...
Mims/ Okay.
Dulek/ ... but ... uh, that both you have to be licensed here and...
Mims/ Okay!
Dulek/ ...but I ... I can certainly follow that up, but...
Mims/ Okay.
Dulek/ .... and ... and, unless maybe Eleanor has a...
Mims/ I mean it went through Risk Assessment (both talking) the City is why it's there.
Dilkes/ (both talking) ...relate to the insurance requirements. It may relate to the insurance
requirements. We ... we set the insurance requirements. So if a company is unable to... it
may have something to do with that.
Mims/ Okay. All right. Thank you.
Botchway/ Another question I had was, um... so the drivers for Uber are insured by the company.
(several talking)
Andrew/ Right. Yeah, that's one of the requirements of the ordinance.
Botchway/ Okay.
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Throgmorton/ Is ... is that consistent with Uber practice?
Botchway/ Are they ... so (both talking)
Dulek/ Yeah! Yes! (laughter)
Botchway/ The next question would be (several talking) and this is just from kind of doing some
research on it, but those ... I was told, or I was research... these drivers wouldn't be
necessarily insured personally. If that ... if that's not correct let me know.
Hart/ So ... so my understanding of it, and anybody at the table can feel free to jump in, is
the ... the insurance for a network transportation driver, like Uber, would kick into effect
once there's a transaction's been agreed upon, and would carry through until that
consumer is dropped off at their location. Uh, now... at that... at that time I don't believe
that their personal insurance is also responsible, but I could be ... in fact be the case,
depending on who your company is, what your policy is.
Botchway/ So ... okay. I'm just thinking of the situation where could you be an uninsured
driver... and... and then drive under Uber and be insured, but be driving around and be
uninsured?
Dulek/ State law requires you to be an insured driver, and that would be part of approving the,
um, the ... the vehicle as ... as well, so I don't (both talking)
Botchway/ Basically what some of the research I was doing was that insurance companies were
not insuring drivers that said that they were with Uber or other network companies, and
so because of that it just made me worry about ... fact that we would then be possibly
allowing for uninsured drivers, but...
Payne/ But aren't... as part of the ordinance, we are licensing the driver to be a taxicab driver, so
don't we check for ... to make sure they have valid insurance? Is that part of the check?
Karr/ Currently ... we require the company to have insurance, not the drivers. The company then
has the responsibility when they hire the drivers that each one of their vehicles, and that
the drivers themselves have the (mumbled) That's currently how we do it.
Dilkes/ We likely wouldn't want to rely on a personal insurance coverage, I mean (several
talking)
Payne/ And I'm not saying ... I'm not saying that at all, that we would rely on that to be their
insurance, but we wouldn't want somebody driving around... uninsured, and ... but they
have a taxi license, and then when they pick somebody up, all of a sudden the Uber kicks
in and that's their insurance when they're driving somebody around. I mean, obviously
they're breaking the State law if they don't (laughs) have insurance anyway but...
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Botchway/ I'm just looking at it from the situation simply, so for example, I'm insured. That's
basically (several talking) I'm insured. If I decided to do ... if I decide to go with Uber,
basically the research I was doing was saying that my insurance company would not then,
um, insure me, and so I don't ... I don't know whether or not ... maybe I'm asking too
many detailed questions or maybe Uber, um, I need to ask that question of Uber,
whatever. I'm just scared of students walking into situations where they're not aware of
what they might be doing from that standpoint, I guess that's my point.
Dilkes/ But I think the response to that is, Kingsley, is that from a regulatory perspective, we
require that the company have the insurance. We are not checking the insurance of the
individual drivers. So ... so they cannot rely on our regulations currently to ensure that the
driver himself has insurance.
Hayek/ Let ... let me kind of move this up to move of a...1,000 -foot level. This ordinance,
including in particular the insurance requirements, have been bet ... vetted by both the
City Attorney's office and Risk Management. And you folks ... were primarily the people
we looked to on an issue like this, coverage, that sort of thing, are ... are satisfied that
anybody getting into a vehicle, uh, is getting into a vehicle that has coverage in the event
of an accident.
Hart/ Yes.
Hayek/ I mean, that's how ... I ... these are ... these are important things — we don't want people
getting into uninsured vehicles. Um, but my sense is, and the language is, you know,
is ... (both talking)
Botchway/ No I don't dis... Matt, I don't think I disagree with that, and I think everybody's done
a wonderful job. I'm specifically talking about the situation where people might not
know whether or not by ... involving themselves in this service, they then become
uninsured for claims when they're not driving as a network taxicab. That's my...
Payne/ You're... you're looking at it from a student wants to make some extra money so they
become a driver for Uber ... does their other insurance go away.
Botchway/ Right. That's just my ... sorry! So it wasn't... and (both talking, coughing)
Hayek/ I understand!
Botchway/ ...I'm just...could be a City issue later on (both talking)
Hayek/ ...yep, they would need to ... that person would need to ... you know, find out the
information.
Dobyns/ Could you review for me the substantive diff... focusing on metered taxicabs, the uh... I
should remember t his but I don't. The substantive differences between what this
proposes ... and from Mike several years ago. I realize one is that, um, they have to be
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available in the middle of the night. Um, you know, to be contacted, whether ... what
other elements are...
Hart/ So, our ... our notable changes to the current code are the airport shuttles, not regulating
those. That the City would issue the business identification cards to authorize drivers,
um ... the, uh, exception to not have, uh, or to be available all ... 24/7. Uh, to not have
destination rates within the city, and a requirement for color schemes for metered
taxicabs.
Dobyns/ Thank you.
Botchway/ Last couple questions. Sorry! Oh, go ahead. No, go ahead.
McCarthy/ Yeah, I met with the Women's Resource and Action Center on campus and they had
a proposal that they wanted me to bring forward. Um, they had dealt with a number of
incidents specifically one in August of this year they said where multiple passengers were
brought in on different fares in the same taxi, and one woman who was inebriated when
she was picked up was joined by a group of other passengers and then ... they continued
down the line, but since they knew her address, they were later able to track her down
and she was assaulted. So the proposal that WRAC wanted me to put forward would be
either single fare requirements on taxicabs to pursue that safety issue. This might already
be on the books and it might just be an issue of enforcement, but if there aren't already
single -fare requirements, then either they wanted to see either those or a requirement of
expressed consent to take on additional passengers on a given fare. I don't know if that'
necessarily feasible or if that's even in the City's purview, but I think that would address
a public safety concern that at least several students on campus have been dealing with.
Hart/ That's currently not in our proposal, but we can certainly take that back.
McCarthy/ Thank you.
Botchway/ Did we address the questions in ... for ... from the email? Cause I noticed from the
memo, the memo happened at the same time the email, which is both on the 25th. So was
the memo after the email or before the email or... does it matter? Maybe it didn't address
the questions, or it did?
Andrew/ No, the memo would have been drafted first. Um, we probably updated it some, you
know, cleaned up some typos or what have you on the day it went into the Info Packet,
but, um, it's substantively what, uh, Uber... the Uber representative saw before he sent
the email.
Botchway/ Well, so one of the questions was, getting that information, like from a third party. Is
that currently how we're going to get our information? It just seemed like there were...
there were some problems as far as how we were going... access that information and I'm
assuming that's all been worked out on both sides?
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Hart/ When you're talking about accessing information, I ... I guess...
Payne/ What is `that' information?
Hart/ Yeah!
Botchway/ Sorry, I have to go back to the... particular... it was in the email, and so...
Payne/ The email that came from Uber?
Botchway/ Yeah.
Payne/ Their concerns?
Botchway/ Yeah.
Payne/ Basically that was one of my questions too, I mean, they set out all these concerns that
this isn't going to work. Did we address that, that why isn't this going to work or ... do
we hope it doesn't work? (laughs)
Andrew/ Well, some of them, um ... you know, we understand their concerns, but it doesn't
necessarily, uh, change our recommendations. Um, you know, we focused this mostly
just on the public safety investigation aspects, and I think some of their concerns get into
more of the... of the business model, competitive aspect that we didn't feel equipped to,
or that we should necessarily delve into (both talking)
Payne/ So basically this is what we need to do for safety, and you need to make your model fit it,
and if it doesn't fit it, then this isn't the market for you.
Hart/ I think that's a... a pretty broad brush there, but (laughter) I don't ... I don't w holly disagree
with that because public safety is at the forefront of our minds right now considering our
...our most recent history. Uh, I would like to say that when we met with them in early
September, uh, the driver I.D.s and the taxi inspections, um, there was no resistance from
the representative at the time about... about questions that we had for those... resolving
those things, or the insurance!
Botchway/ So for ... I found it. Driver's requirements in the email, suggested change insert
language specific to driver requirements which would include a requirement for a driver
to apply to the TNC rather than the City. But we are going to do that through the City.
So...
Hart/ Right.
Botchway/ ... and that was a public, going back to the public safety piece of it.
Hart/ Yes.
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Botchway/ Okay, that's why...
Hart/ I ... I'm glad that they are also doing that as a business also, but uh... um, we think ... we
thought it was important to be consistent with, uh.... uh, what we had done in the past
because it worked well, and also consistent with the, uh, traditional metered taxicabs.
Botchway/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ I'd like to pick up on Michelle's point. I ... I agree with you completely, if I
understood you correctly. It seems to me that we're clearly in a transitional stage with
regard to this particular business sector, and we don't know where that transition's
headed. We're going to be finding out. This is an interim step that is designed solely to
address our... or almost solely to address the concerns about safety within the cabs. Uh,
and to kind of clean up some stuff.
Payne/ And we're trying to put the other in at the same time, but we still have the concern for
public safety.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so this'll come back to us. I mean it's kinda the way I see it. Within a year,
maybe sooner (laughs) (several talking in background) uh, but ... but it ... that will be all
about transition of the business sector.
Mims/ At the very end of the ordinance, and maybe this isn't the complete ordinance and maybe
that's the reason, it says `horse-drawn vehicles:' and then it stops.
Simon/ Yeah, that was just to save space in our draft (laughter)
Karr/ Yeah, the rest of the ordinance remains intact.
Mims/ Okay, I kind of assumed that but I just...
Throgmorton/ I wanted to know about the horse-drawn vehicles, you know.
Hayek/ Just kind of trotted off the page! (laughter)
Payne/ I had a question and it's probably... kind of nit -picky, but it's the way something reads. It
just doesn't read quite right to me. (laughs) Imagine that!
Hayek/ God bless ya! (laughter)
Payne/ Um ... in the packet it's on page 12 of the, um .... 12/11 packet, it's at the very bottom and
it's like the definition section, I think, to try to get to where I'm at. And it says taxicab,
all vehicles furnished with a driver that carry passengers within hire within the city
including but not limited to major taxicabs, network taxicabs, pedi-cabs, and horse-drawn
vehicles. Charter transportation and airport shuttle, as defined in this section, and a
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vehicle owned or operated by any ... now maybe it makes sense when I read it out loud.
Operated by any government entity that provides public transportation or not taxicabs. It
does make sense when I read it out loud. Okay! Thank you for allowing me to read it
out loud! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Well done! (laughter)
Payne/ Um, I had another question on, um, it's under business licenses, i. It's, uh, it's on page 3
maybe. It's got a 3 at the bottom. Not withstand...it...it has a date in it, February 15th
15 ... February 1, 2015 through June 1, 2015. Why is that date in there?
Andrew/ It's just to align, um ... this process with our current, uh (both talking)
Payne/ Oh because that's when the (both talking)
Karr/ The current license, it's a transition. That will probably change because we're a little more
behind than we anticipated.
Payne/ Okay.
Karr/ Um, so that is a transition period.
Payne/ Okay. Got it!
Botchway/ Does this current ... this current ordinance factor in ... I know we were ... and Uber
was ... you know, we're ... we're going to propose something and so we're factoring those
particular things in, but does this factor in like the possibility of, uh, having, um,
handicap accessible, um, taxicabs, as well. When I say that I mean, you know, taxicabs
where you can literally wheel in, um, or is that something we're going to have to look at
if somebody proposes that later on?
Hart/ This does not address that.
Botchway/ Okay.
Hart/ Um, the only... our... our, like I said, our main goals are for public safety.
Botchway/ Okay.
Dilkes/ And there's nothing in the ordinance that would prevent that.
Botchway/ Okay.
Dilkes/ Prevent that accessibility.
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Hayek/ You know, Jim, I share your view and I think you wee echoing Michelle's as well, I
mean, this is ... an evolving, uh, area. It ... as you know, as anyone who's been on the
Council for a while knows, these ... the taxi issues come back to us periodically anyway.
This was occurring long before we entered into this network, at -based, uh, world. Um,
and ... this iteration no doubt will be revisited with time. Uh, I think it's important for us
to be open to, urn ... uh... multiple means of providing safe and reliable transportation to,
uh, people who need it, uh, in the ... in the community. I think it's appropriate for us to
approach this first and foremost from the perspective of safety, reliability, and ... and
accessibility of information. Um ... and I ... I think that's the ... that's the approach we're
taking.
Payne/ Well I ... I mean I think that it's just exactly that, and everything evolves, and as
technology evolves, we have to be ... have ... have, be fluid enough to evolve with it, or
not, you know. We have to make that decision whether we want to or not.
Botchway/ Last question. Um, 3.c., metered taxicabs, businesses must operate a minimum of
four cars. Why?
Dulek/ That's the current requirement.
Botchway/ Okay.
Dulek/ So, it ... it, but we just left it that way.
Karr/ We felt there was a commitment over the years as ... as Matt had alluded to, we've talked
about this a number of times — a commitment to operating a company. Could it be five
cars? Could it be three cars? Could it be seven? Certainly, but what we felt strongly
about is there should be a commitment to running a company, and operating 24/7 meant
that one vehicle wouldn't be enough. So to continue that 24/7, 24 -hours -a -day, 7 -days -a -
week, there was a minimum number of cars, and it's been like that for some time.
There's no magic in the number.
Botchway/ Sounds cool!
Hayek/ Okay, well what, uh, what else do you need from us? It sounds like that there's buy -in.
Hart/ Well, really what we're looking for is a timeframe here. Um... (several talking and
laughing) Okay, uh... uh, well the business licenses are going to be up here pretty soon.
So if there's going to be any changes, uh, it would be nice to be able to afford,
uh... companies time to accommodate for those changes. Uh, some of them we may want
to even actually postpone after the business license, such as the, uh, color schemes to
allow for more time to...
Mims/ Uh huh.
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Payne/ will that come back to us as a proposal or do we need to say that ... here's, you know,
the ... you know, this is the date? I mean or will you come back to us with a proposal that
says, we've talked to the taxicabs and they would like a year from ... the next date or
something like that. (mumbled) the color scheme (mumbled)
Karr/ We ... we can come back to you with a recommendation. I think our concern is the same as
indicated earlier. It's a matter of public safety. So we have to balance off ...the fairness
in allowing the companies as much time as we possibly can, but also recognizing the
recommendations are based on safety.
Botchway/ I just thought of a question — sorry! Is Uber a 24, um, hour, 7 -days -a -week service?
Hart/ They are!
Botchway/ Okay.
Payne/ As long as your intemet's up!
Botchway/ Yeah (both talking)
Dulek/ And, Michelle, the ... the idea is that our taxi cycle runs June 1, so if you have first
consideration June ... or January 6, you pass this in Jan ... in January, then the companies
would have until June 1, unless you have a different date for your color scheme, but the
sooner we know that the... sooner we can get... get it all passed.
Hayek/ So to be clear, we're not taking action tonight. We've given you feedback that you will
use to then put something on our formal agenda, probably in January.
Andrew/ That's the goal.
Hayek/ Okay. (several talking)
Dobyns/ I saw you were writing down what Evan was talking about from WRAC, so I assume
that you took that to heart but I ... I get a sense that there's buy -in with that
recommendation.
Mims/ Yeah! (several talking) I think it's a good recommendation.
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Yeah, it's, uh, one we should pay careful attention to. Okay! Thank you (several
talking) All right. We have two Info Packets. First Info Packet is December 4"'.
Payne/ There was something in one of our packets... and I ... I just have this circled in this packet
because we have a ... this tentative meeting schedule. About changing the February and
March dates to the second and fourth instead of (both talking)
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Karr/ That was the, uh, 111h packet.
Payne/ Okay! I actually circled it on the wrong packet then.
Karr/ Okay.
Hayek/ Just hang back on that; we'll get to that.
Payne/ Okay!
Hayek/ On the December 4th
... want to encourage all of my friends on the Council to apply for
the Peace Corps! (laughter)
Mims/ Think I'm a little past the age requirement (both talking)
Hayek/ Maybe Tom's thinkin' about it! He grew ... grew a beard!
Payne/ I would love to! (several talking)
Hayek/ Jimmy Carter's mother did it, I believe. While he was in office.
Mims/ I was just going to say, the December 4th, nice letter from Iowa State University for, uh...
appreciation for Jen Jordan and all the recycling work.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, for sure!
Hayek/ Yeah!
Mims/ Was very nice to see that, um ... that appreciation come through.
Botchway/ So I had a question, um, on ... IP ... 8. So I'm on that particular committee, and
subcommittees. When do I give that update? Like on things going on.
Hayek/ ... Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (several talking)
Botchway/ Yeah.
Mims/ Council time or whatever, I mean.
Botchway/ Okay, I just ... I guess I just never ... we've been meeting and we've been discussing
stuff and then ... just never, I didn't know whether or not there needed to be some formal
type of...
Dickens/ You can send an email to all the Council too with your updates and then we'd all have
it...
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Botchway/ Okay.
Dickens/ as well.
Botchway/ All right, that works! It's one of those questions you probably should ask at the
beginning.
Throgmorton/ I personally...
Dobyns/ I kinda read the minutes and just kind of see ... what you said at the minutes (several
talking)
Botchway/ Yeah but it doesn't... there's a subcommittee, uh (both talking) Adult DMC
Subcommittee that it doesn't necessarily show all the things we've been talking about
and so ... that's ... that's what I wanted to...
Hayek/ That'd be good.
Dobyns/ I wasn't able to make the, uh, early morning date with the County. Um, and I was
just ... it had a sense (mumbled) any substantive tasks, I mean, other than future meetings
with the County. Is there anything came out of it specifically that we're going to be
taking forward or is it just ongoing discussion?
Markus/ You'll be getting minutes of that meeting. So you'll...
Dobyns/ So there's no tasks (both talking)
Markus/ ...get a chance to go through that. I ... there were some suggestions for follow-up
that ... that were identified (several talking)
Dobyns/ Okay.
Botchway/ I had to leave early but you know ... there at least needs to be some discussion as far
as ... communication, and I don't know whether or not ... I think that was one of the last
topics, but ... you know, Susan's on the subcommittee, doing subcommittee work. As
soon as it's available to talk about, I mean we have different ... I think you mentioned it,
Matt. We have different structures, so things are handled differently, and so there was a
couple of comments as far as ... make sure we ... include people in the process, or add
people to the particular committee, and I just thought it was...
Hayek/ Yeah. I think that's... that's distinct. What I was talking about was that we have two
different forms of government. I mean, we have a ... we have a professional staff that has
training in running a local government and is in charge of the day -to ... day-to-day
operations and reports to ... the board, whereas the County has electeds who are in charge
of specific departments, um...
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Botchway/ Well my point is because of that, there might be more reason for them to have more
members of a particular committee comprised of... elected officials, and I guess, I don't
know, I was a little taken aback about the comments as far as ... um ... you know, inclu... I
think this ... it is, the LOST is a ... a topic that is across the county, but there's multiple
issues in different municipalities and different governments that if that's the case, then we
need a spokesperson or somebody to ha ... be in each particular discussion, and I just
thought that it was ... awkward, to say the least.
Hayek/ I think we ... what we were talking about in terms of the different forms of government
is ... we have to be careful because you know our ... we empower and ask our staff to
handle a lot of things, and especially with, um, where they're collaborating with other
local governments on a trail or some sort of joint collaboration, and in the case of the
County, it makes it more delicate because you're... the... the top most people there are the
electeds, um, on that issue and ... and it puts our staff, sometimes, in an awkward position
because they're... they're dealing with electeds when we're not present. You can work
around that, but it's something that we just need to be sensitive to and ... um, and that, you
know, that really only... it's really only the County we face that with, because the other
cities have similar structures, and the School District has a similar structure, as you know,
so...
Throgmorton/ I ... I'd like to follow up on this, um, first I'm sorry I wasn't present for the
meeting and I apologized to all of you for that. But I wonder, uh, did you all find it be a
fruitful, substantive discussion, or uh, you know, fruitful in the sense of, uh, being helpful
in terms of, uh, sort of interpersonal relationships, uh, between... between the Council
Members and ... and the Board? Uh... I, you know, I've long felt that we should be
meeting with them. It took place. So that's one of the reasons I'm sorry I wasn't there,
but did y'all find it fruitful?
Payne/ I did! I mean, I thought it was beneficial to sit and talk to them. I mean, it was formal,
you know, but it was still ... I still found it beneficial.
Mims/ yeah, I think there's lots of issues that we need to ... you know, have more discussion on
and, you know, we've talked about so many regional kinds of things and... and I think all
of us agree that we get to this big joint meeting and you've got 25 people sitting around
the tables and it's... borderline worthless (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Right!
Mims/ ...because all you do is you get... different communities reporting out on what they're
doing. You don't get into any substantive discussion, because it's such a huge group, and
so ... um, I ... I think the challenge before us, and I think we've got to try and figure out a
way to do it is, when we take a look at some of these issues, whether it's the sales tax or
the jail, the courthouse — I'm just kind of going through the agenda, you know, affordable
housing, etc., that we find ways to put together, um, smaller feasible sized subcommittees
...or subcommittees, um, you know, from the County, from Iowa City, Coralville, North
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Liberty, Tiffin, etc., you know, without a quorum of any elected officials, but that maybe
can, you know, have some discussion... take stuff back to those entities to have more
detailed discussion, because obviously you're not going to be able to make binding
decisions in those meetings, um, to maybe, you know, make some progress on some of
these issues, so...
Dickens/ But it's some of the things that they've already discussed and legally gone through that
they can share with the other entities. I think that was very important, the part that they
talked about, that we don't have to reinvent the wheel in some things. They've already
stepped through the hoops and they can pass that on in the same way we can pass on to
them. So...
Payne/ One of the ... one of the biggest drawbacks that I found was we had too many things on
the agenda and too short of a time period.
Mims/ Yeah.
Payne/ So it's, you know, so it's almost like you talk at things at such a high level that, you
know, you would like to almost delve into them further but you can't because of the time
constraints, so ... it's almost like you should only have like four things on the agenda, 15
minutes each or two things and a half-hour each or something like that.
Throgmorton/ Well so if we meet... periodically presumably that would be the case.
Botchway/ But the same ... I didn't mean to interrupt you (several talking) but this ... it, while I
appreciated it and I, you know, liked the discussion, um, it seemed like a joint meeting. I
mean, the same type of stuff comes up at the joint meeting, and we were talking about it
similar to how ... we would talk about it at a joint meeting. Um, so I mean, not to say that
I'm poo-pooing us doing it separately, but ... I didn't necessarily think that we talked in
any type of detail or specificity... in regards to any of the topics that we wouldn't engage
in at a joint meeting. But...
Throgmorton/ Well, lots of topics, that's... that's (both talking)
Botchway/ ... and so that could be, you know, to Michelle's point, that could be a reason why we
weren't able to, so...
Markus/ And so in ... in a lot of respects, the City staff has those meetings on occasion with the
Board of Supervisors, and I think the Board of Supervisors doesn't like to meet
individually. So you end up having your staff meeting with the full Board of Supervisors
on these issues. We get into a lot more detail in those discussions.
Hayek/ And that... see, that's the problem. (both talking)
Markus/ ...and that's a bit awkward at times.
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Hayek/ ...when Tom goes and talks to somebody about issue X, he ... he knows what his
authority is on behalf of the City. But with ... with the, I mean, the Supervisors, we either
have to decide amongst them who to dispatch, or the meeting would have to occur with
all of them, and that's where it becomes a little awkward. I don't disagree. I think it felt,
you know, it...it...it's invariably going to feel somewhat like a joint meeting. Smaller,
less ... you know, not as joint -meeting -like as the one we have with everybody else. I still
think there was merit to it because it forces us to ... to sit down and have that interpersonal
interaction. I don't think there's a ... I still don't think there's a substitution for ... the truly
informal interaction — grabbin' a beer with somebody, you know, and ... and talking about
things. You may not have authority, but you certainly get the lay of the land and... and
can report back. (several talking) But anything... the... the issues we deal with, I mean
even something as simple as a trail, or connectivity of a trail, that's where staff is
invaluable. That's where the technical and all sorts of ... regulatory and everything else
comes into play. I don't think you can accomplish that with meetings between two full
bodies ... of electeds. That ... those details are ... are hammered out (several responding) in
different settings, so...
Markus/ And the County Administrators are sitting down at meeting... including, I mean, all the
City Administrators, all the County ... the County's represented, um, by Mr. Johnson. So
those kinds of discussions are going on and they're a lot more detailed and delve into ... I
think a lot more depth than necessarily boards can do. The other thing I'd point out is
Johnson County's meeting with all the cities. Each individually, and so we're having one
meeting with Johnson County, but the same could ... the same argu ... argument could be
made that you should be meeting with the other cities too.
Mims/ Right!
Throgmorton/ I ... I can see (both talking)
Markus/ What's the County hearing that's different than what we would hear from the cities? If
we met with the cities.
Throgmorton/ I, yeah, I ... I think there could be a really good thing, so I ... I would, uh, encourage
us to ... reflect on that and take advantage of the possibilities.
Dobyns/ Well I take a look at affordable housing. I think about, you know, I mean, to get into
specifics, um, we ... professionals should meet with professionals, members of each city
staff and County staff should sit down (mumbled) and I'm trying to ... and I've actually
been thinking about for years at MPOJC how it doesn't seem to really get anywhere, and
so I was interested when I asked about tasks that may have come from this is that small
ad hoc groups. I'm thinking when is it ... when is the right time for electeds from each of
the jurisdictions to jump in and start meddling in the meetings of the respective city
staffs. And I have not come to a discussion, or any sort of sense of what that needs to be,
but let ... take a look at affordable housing, for instance. That just really doesn't really
quite move. Um, the city staffs have met a ... about it, and is that their ... is that a time
when there need to be electeds, um, that would be a different kind of meeting. Um, an
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MPOJC meeting, it's so big it becomes sort of stilted and a little bit uncomfortable. Um,
then again if you just have City staff, they at some point they're left at (mumbled) sorry,
our respective city councils and supervisors do not give us permission to go any further
than this — we are stopped. And I keep thinking I ... you know, I take a look at that purely
as a, you know, just an example. Would there be an opportunity for an ad hoc committee
of electeds and selected city staff from, uh, all the jurisdictions to sit down and just have
some... discussions. You know, the discussions would have maybe they'd have a little bit
of heat in `em! It's hard to have heat in the MPOJC. Um ... and but you know, cordial,
civility, uh, types of meetings. And ... and that's... and that's what I've kind of wondered
about. I have ... I see that work, uh, you know, within our own, uh, jurisdiction when we
have meetings about ... with our building sites. You know, we have two of us sit down
with City staff and that moves. We come up with something substantive to take a look at,
and then we all just sort of chew on it. Um ... and I guess that's what I would like to see
from the multiple jurisdictions on any one of these topics. I mean, just pick one, and it
can even be...it can be low -hanging fruit, um, like a trail, or it can be really high on the
tree, like affordable housing. And just see where it goes! Um ... and that's my sense of
what we would recommend to the other jurisdictions. Thoughts?
Botchway/ I just ... I don't know if anybody's interested, I mean, I think, Jim, you brought that up
during the MPO meeting and nobody bit, and then ... we went back to the joint meeting
and said substantively the same thing, and then everybody just decided to go back to their
jurisdictions and talk about it. Um, and so maybe that does come up in the next joint
meeting after we've talked about it, and we report on ... whatever we're going to report on
after we have our discussion, and ... that might come from it, but I ... I just, I mean, it's the
same ... oh I guess I'm trying to make an argument about affordable housing so never
mind, but ... I don't know!
Hayek/ Well, I ... yeah, I ... I don't ever expect joint meetings to lead to much, other than...
periodic interaction face-to-face with other people, which has some value, but to your
point, maybe... picking off an issue. You know, as a trial run, and ... and going (several
talking)
Dickens/ ... get one off our list. (both talking)
Hayek/ You know, not ... not in full elected body interaction kind of, uh, settings, but... subsets.
Dobyns/ There's a lot of things we frankly don't talk about, because we want this to be a multi -
jurisdictional issue (mumbled) in that, uh, environment. And then we throw it to MPOJC
and it doesn't work. It doesn't run.
Payne/ Well it's not ... it's not really the place for it anyway!
Dobyns/ Well, yeah!
Payne/ For some of the items!
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Dobyns/ Well that's, yeah! And I'm looking for I guess a ... an in-between option, a third option
that, uh, and I've been on it for three ... I ... I just thought those sorts of things happened.
Well I've been here for three years and .... I haven't seen (both talking)
Payne/ That's government, Rick! (laughter)
Dobyns/ Yeah. Well ... you know it's just ... you know, maybe there is just a ... I'd like to get in
the way of City staff but (laughter) Thank goodness I'm not looking behind me!
(laughter) Um ... but that may be a role for electeds. I ... it's just something that, um. ... I'd
like to maybe see come out of MPOJC. An ad hoc group on something.
Payne/ And it almost has to be something not ... too big for the first time if we're gonna try doing
something like that. Because if it's too huge and it doesn't succeed, nobody'll ever want
to do it again!
Botchway/ Bring up, uh, paper bags, or plastic bags! (laughter and several talking)
Dobyns/ ...is Johnson County! Everything will be big! I have great faith in that! (laughter)
Payne/ But you know what I'm saying? If it's too ... if it's something too big and controversial,
and you can't come to a conclusion, then nobody'll ever want to have ... do it again.
Dobyns/ But you know, I'd actually feel better like ... Matt was eluding to (mumbled) having the
conversation. You know, I'd like to have, you know, these ... you know, we had this, all
these people — one elected and several city staffs from all the jurisdictions. We talked
about this, we got into specifics, um... and it didn't move. And I go, okay, that would be
helpful for me. At least we tried. Um...
Hayek/ All right! Well, let's finish up this December 4t", uh, Info Packet. Anything else on
that? All right. December 11 to packet.
Payne/ I have something on there. It's on the very, very last ... well, maybe not. It's on, um...
the attendance record ... for the Economic Development Committee, which is on page 56
of the packet. It still says the term expires in 2014. Can we get that updated? It says 1/1
or 1/2 of 2014. Isn't it past that date?
Hayek/ Well then you are serving illegally (both talking)
Payne/ Yes we all are!
Karr/ No, I ... I think they're every two year terms. (both talking)
Payne/ Right, but it says term expires 1/1 or 1/2/14. It's past 1/2/14
Karr/ Okay.
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Markus/ Need to add a 2.
Payne/ I think it needs to be 16. Yeah, I think it needs to be 16.
Karr/ Okay!
Dickens/ They're all off.
Throgmorton/ Could ... could we go back to the ... I'm sorry!
Karr/ I see where you're at. The term expires ... I got it. Okay!
Payne/ I keep wanting to bring it up at Economic Development Committee and I keep forgetting,
so...
Karr/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Matt, could we go back to the preceding topic, uh, because we just had a flurry of
discussion about that, but ... that discussion really didn't go anywhere.
Hayek/ Okay!
Throgmorton/ So ... I, how to make it go somewhere. Uh, I wonder if, uh, a couple people on the
Council could get together and come up with a suggestion... that we could perhaps follow
up on.
Mims/ Well, I'll jump on one. I mean, Matt and I had this discussion earlier today and you know
in that joint meeting, um, sales tax ... the sales tax, local option sales tax, was the first item
on our agenda. And one of the questions I asked as we got kind of got done with that
discussion was asking the Board of Supervisors not as a commitment of a whole... of the
whole board but any of them had any thoughts in terms of whether they thought this
should go back on the ballot, sooner rather than later, and two of the five spoke up and
said sooner. Um, I would be interested and willing to reach out to ... the Board of
Supervisors and the other cities and see if we could get a small group together to at least
have some discussion about ... how they think this could reasonably move forward, um,
what we could do to make it pass, and you know what kind of timeframe they would be
comfortable with. I think we really are in a position as ... as our committee has looked at
it and we've had some discussions of...almost looking at this May, May of 15, which is
meaning starting now and moving fast, or March of 16, and if you wait until March of 16,
then you're looking at July of 16 before you start collecting any money on it. Um, I don't
know if it's feasible to get people organized and get another informational campaign
going of substance to, you know, to do it in May. Um ... you know, of 15, but it's
something that we could certainly try to start having that discussion about right away and
see ... what people's thoughts are, and at least if...if the answer is no, we can't do it that
quickly, and basically the reason we said either May of this year or March ... May of 15 or
March of 16 is because from our perspective, August was not a good date because you'll
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take a lot of political heat because everybody's out of town, and ... um ... there was not, did
not seem to be interest and I certainly concur with this, of having it on the ballot at the
same time we have a City Council election. And so that put it out then to March of 16.
So...
Botchway/ I would ... be in agreement of doing what you were taking about...
Mims/ Okay.
Botchway/ ...but also, uh, doing it as soon as possible. So, May 15. The only reason I say that
is because ... this year's 14?
Mims/ This is 14.
Botchway/ Um...
Mims/ (laughing and talking) Start talkin' about all these years!
Botchway/ If you go to... 16 of March, you're running into... presidential election, or primary.
Mims/ Right.
Botchway/ It'd be kind of along the same lines as before it and so I would ... I would definitely,
strongly say the sooner the better.
Throgmorton/ So I'd like to ask a couple questions to see if I understand what you're suggesting,
Susan. Are you suggesting that, uh... you taking the leadership, trying to, uh, pull
together a group of people, elected officials from other entities, to focus only on that
question about when to put it on the ballot or are you thinking it would be a conversation
about...
Mims/ Broader than when. I think it needs to be broader than when, because ... it needs to be also
what ... what can people bring to the table in terms of...helping with an informational
campaign and do people ... think they need to make changes to their language in terms of
what they were proposing or do they feel that those are still are the most important needs
for their jurisdictions, um ... and obviously (both talking)
Dickens/ What can we do to get it passed?
Mims/ And what can we do to get it passed, I mean, it passed in Iowa City, just barely, but you
know, what do we need to do to inform people in North Liberty better, in Coralville
better, etc. to maybe get a higher level of support.
Dobyns/ Remember, Jim, this is a little different than just getting multiple jurisdictions and
talking about something that we all have to buy into. From a government standpoint, this
is Iowa City's decision just because the way the regulations are with this. So, this is a tad
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different for Susan if she goes out and represents us because really, you know, the other
is basically, well, look at Susan go, okay. We can give you our input but you know ... it's
really Iowa City's call. So it's a tad different. Ultimately you would bring it back to this
body.
Mims/ But (several talking) what I've expressed to people, and I ... I expressed this to Amy
Nielson who's the new mayor of North Liberty and to others, and I think I expressed it at
the joint meeting, is I think it would be really helpful in going forward to have, actually
have resolutions from the other jurisdictions, saying either please put this on or you know
(mumbled) So I would see if we do ... if we tried to do this, it'd be a broader discussion
than just date.
Hayek/ We're getting into too much substance here, I think.
Mims/ Okay!
Hayek/ It's one thing to talk about... the... the...
Dickens/ The idea.
Hayek/ Communication or, you know, protocol, but now we're ... we're delving into a topic that's
not...
Mims/ Okay!
Dobyns/ But this is a nice example of an ad hoc group that (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Well, I think it'd be very helpful to have, uh, short written statement about what's
being proposed, and that's what I was trying to get at...
Payne/ Nothing yet! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ ... what ... what specifically the topic would be, and secondly, who, um, what's
imagined with regard to a subcommittee of people from the Council being ... being
involved.
Dobyns/ The first time we have an ad hoc group, I'd like to sort of not constrain it, and I guess
I'd, you know (mumbled) not an old topic. I guess I'd like to just sit, us, Susan, to form
this sort of group with a ... just with the guidance and parameters that have already been
discussed, and then bring that back to us. Um...
Hayek/ I ... that ... that's fine. The other thing we could do is ... is put this on our work session for
two weeks from now. Very little's going to happen over the holidays. If you want to do
a bit more...
Mims/ (both talking) ...want to make a bet? (laughs)
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Hayek/ Um...
Karr/ The minutes' ll be in your next packet too.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Karr/ From the joint meeting.
Hayek/ From the joint meeting. Form this up a little bit more at the beginning of January and
then ... and then sort of dispatch you and who ... whoever else out to ... and I, yeah! I'm
starting to get into the technical aspects of it as well...
Mims/ Okay, we'll go from there! (both talking)
Hayek/ ... shut up! (laughter) Uh, December 11 packet.
Dobyns/ (laughs) Just talkin', Matt, just talkin'!
Hayek/ That's where you get into trouble, buddy! (laughter) One things we needed to do is
KXIC. Um ... I can do January 71h
Botchway/ I'll do the 21st. Cause I don't think I've done it ... for a long time!
Dickens/ 14th of January.
Karr/ I'm sorry. 7th is Kingsley?
Botchway/ 21St
Karr/ 21 St
Hayek/ Matt is the 7th, uh, Kingsley's the 21 St
Dickens/ 14th, Mr. Dickens.
Payne/ Dobyns is already (both talking)
Mims/ ...has it. (several talking) We just need two, I mean (several talking and laughing)
Karr/ Meeting Schedule, IP7. Michelle mentioned that?
Hayek/ Yes, so, uh, folks, we've got, uh, the federal issue's trip in early February and spring
break in March. And we could move our ... meetings to the 10th and 24th of February and
March, respectively. If people are in agreement?
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Throgmorton/ Okay with me.
Dobyns/ If we do that, I couldn't make the March 10th until probably 5:30 cause of a ... on-call
commitment that day. Um, unless you ... I mean you could start at 5:00;1 just couldn't be
here until 5:30.
Payne/ And I have the same issue on the 24th of March. I would probably be late to the work
session.
Botchway/ Wait, so we're saying we should do it from the 3rd and 17th to the l Ot" and 24t".
Payne/ Yes.
Botchway/ Okay, I wouldn't...
Hayek/ 10th of February and 24th of March.
Botchway/ I don't know if I'd be able to make ... both meetings.
Mims/ Wait, aren't we moving...
Payne/ Two month's worth.
Mims/ Four meetings? Or are we just moving...
Karr/ We're meeting... we're moving both February and March meeting dates, for a total of
four...
Mims/ Meetings.
Karr/ ...meetings.
Botchway/ Oh!
Karr/ They both happen to be the same dates.
Mims/ Right, cause February has 28 days!
Botchway/ yeah, I wouldn't be able to do all four, possibly.
Payne/ You would not?
Botchway/ Right.
Payne/ Be able to come to any of them?
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Botchway/ Correct.
Throgmorton/ you'd have to miss all four of `em (several talking)
Botchway/ Yeah, I mean if you're moving it ... you're moving it to the second and fourth, right?
Mims/ that's when the... School District...
Botchway/ School Board ... yeah, School Board meets. So that's...
Mims/ He has to be there.
Botchway/ Yeah. Can we ... I don't know, can I get back to you?
Throgmorton/ yeah, we can't (several talking) We can't make it impossible for Kingsley to
attend our meetings. (several talking)
Karr/ Can we ... another possibility is can we move it to the Mondays instead of Tuesdays?
Mims/ The February 3`d isn't going to help because the...
Karr/ No, I meant the 9th and 23`d, rather than the 3`d and 17th. I'm wondering if that ... the same
weeks. Instead of 10 and 24, making it 9 and 23.
Dickens/ In March.
Karr/ In February and March, if that's the issue, of second and fourth. Tuesdays. I could send
you an email and you could follow-up.
Dickens/ I'm fine! I'll just show up! I don't have a life! (laughs)
Payne/ I ditto Terry's comments — I don't have a life either, so...
Dobyns/ Marian (several talking) could you say the four Mondays again, please?
Karr/ I mean be 9 ... February and March, 91h and 23`d. So we would have special meetings.
Throgmorton/ I thought we already had a special meeting on February 9th. Having to do with the
budget. Or special work session of some kind. Or was that just being proposed and ... at
one point?
Karr/ Let me look at your ... no, we have ... we have no special meetings in February.
Throgmorton/ (both talking) Okay, all right, never mind.
Payne/ What about the...
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Karr/ We do (both talking)
Payne/ Weren't we having a diversity...
Karr/ ... in January.
Payne/ That ... the diversity meeting, wasn't that (several talking)
Karr/ January 13tH. I'm in February and March.
Throgmorton/ It's been moved up to January.
Payne/ I didn't get anything on that.
Throgmorton/ It's ... it's in the (several talking) It's in the packet.
Karr/ January (several talking)
Payne/ Well we have a special budget meeting on the 13th of January.
Karr/ That's correct and we've replaced that ... we're suggesting replacing it with a ... um...
Hayek/ Everybody already carved that out on their calendars... using that for that...
Karr/ So a possibility might be the Mondays? The 9t1'...
Hayek/ February 91H
Karr/ February 9th. February 23`a
Dobyns/ March 9th. March 23`a. I've got it. I've got it!
Karr/ You do have it!
Dickens/ (mumbled)
Payne/ Yeah!
Karr/ I offer that in response to Kingsley, um, because he can't come to the second and fourth
Tuesdays.
Botchway/ Well and that's my fault. I should have ... I saw that and I just didn't pay attention to
it. Not ... or I did pay attention to it. I ... just .... (several talking)
Dickens/ It didn't register!
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Botchway/ Yeah, there you go! Thank you. Um, so I mean, can we tentatively say Mondays and
then...
Karr/ Yeah, what I'll (both talking) need to know fairly soon because we could be setting public
hearings the next ... the next agenda for meeting dates, so that's why we need to know. I
can follow up with each of you with an email (several talking)
Markus/ This is why it's difficult to have joint meetings! (laughter) Mul... multiply this times
two, three, and four times. (several responding)
Payne/ So...so the special budget work session on the 13th is out of there and we're having the
diversity meeting that night.
Karr/ Same time, same location, yes.
Mims/ Different topic.
Karr/ Different topic.
Payne/ Okay!
Hayek /All right! Anything else on the, uh, December 11th Info Packet? If not, Council time!
Council Time:
Payne/ You going to give a report on your subcommittee now?
Botchway/ Well I ... I'm not prepared, so (laughter)
Payne/ You can't wing it? (laughter)
Dobyns/ You knew that was coming? (laughter and several talking)
Hayek/ You walked into that! Uh, meeting schedule, we've already talked about that.
Pending Work Session Topics:
Throgmorton/ I'm very pleased to see that we're going to discuss on January 6th the... Housing
ICSD's housing letter (mumbled) inclusionary zoning memo and that on the 13th we're
going to discuss, uh, the equity diversity material. I'm very excited about that, especially
the second. I'm glad we were able to schedule a time for that.
Payne/ Did we put a thing, I mean ... I didn't, I guess I didn't look closely enough, but to talk
about the... affordable housing stuff that we have to take back to MPOJC?
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December 16, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 39
Markus/ (several talking) ...that same discussion on the 61n
Payne/ Okay!
Dobyns/ Michelle, you going to be late for any of those four, uh, February and March meetings?
Payne/ No!
Dobyns/ Okay. So ... I do ... I have one, that one meeting in, uh, February, um...
Payne/ 91h or... or...
Dobyns/ 23rd. Where I would make it at 5:30. So ... (several taking in background)
Karr/ So...
Hayek/ We'll do. Uh, yes, Jim?
Throgmorton/ Where are we now?
Hayek/ (several talking) Oh we're at session topics and we're about to go (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, could I ... could I, I'd like to bring up one thing briefly and I'm not sure if I
want to recommend a work session, but anyhow ... I ... I'm pretty concerned about growth
in student enrollment and the applications of that for demand for student housing... off
campus student housing. I ... and ... one of my concerns there has to do with potential
effects on ... on the Northside Neighborhood and on the, uh, the ... the neighborhood to the
east of us. Uh, and I've reached out to some University officials to get some sense of
what they anticipate in terms of projected increases in enrollments, and of course they've
told me essentially what, uh, what's been circulated — basically 2,000 additional students
over the...total, over the next four years. Uh, they've also hired, uh, they're in the
process of hiring a, uh, I don't know, a new Vice President for Student Enrollment issues
(laughs) or something like that, uh, so that's interesting, but when I asked, uh, the same
officials about, uh, in ... net increase in dormitory space, uh, I ... it was very clear to me
that they will not be adding, even though they're adding, you know, a couple new dorms,
one being constructed now and the other anticipated, we're still looking at a substantial
increase in demand for student housing. So I'm very concerned about the Northside
Neighborhood, uh, so ... part of what I wonder is whether, and I expressed this in an email
earlier to some ... to some people whether we shouldn't be considering, uh, having a
moratorium on destruction of single-family structures in currently unprotected parts of
the Northside Neighborhood. And when I say that, I'm thinking mainly of the Dubuque
Street corridor, and maybe other parts, which I'm not sufficiently familiar with. So I'm
expressing a significant concern here. I think it's possible the particular land owners
would see an opportunity to meet this demand for student housing and take advantage of
that opportunity.
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December 16, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 40
Hayek/ So we're gonna be...at some point coming back to Council for a discussion on, um,
upkeep of property and the City expectations of ex ... exterior aesthetics and so on, and
this would all be within the University -impact area, and you know, maybe we could
wrap that into that conversation.
Throgmorton/ Uh, it ... it, I consider it a very significant concern.
Botchway/ (several talking) Yeah, definitely.
Hayek/ Yeah, when you look at the net ... new number of beds, it's not significant. Can we do
that? Make it part of...part of that discussion? Okay! Okay, anything else? Community
events? Council invitations? Seems like we just went through two or three rough weeks.
(several responding) Okay! Take a break, come back at 7:00! Thank you!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of December 16, 2014.