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ITEM 2. STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS — Regina Elementary
Hayek: Would the students from Regina please come forward! Hi! How are you doing
tonight? Let's stand back a little bit farther here! Well, we're glad to have you!
Did you have a good spring break? (several responding) All right! Really
excited to be back in school I'm guessing! All right! (laughter) Well, I'm Matt
Hayek, the Mayor of Iowa City, and this is the City Council behind you, and we
want to welcome you to City Hall and ... uh, explain how this works. What the
City Council does throughout the year is invite, uh, students who are nominated
from their elementary schools, uh, as leaders, uh, to come down to City Hall
where we get to show you off a little bit and... and... and talk to you! Uh, so it's a
real honor to have you. We already know just by virtue of you standing up here
that you are leaders, uh, at Regina and that's... that's really great! That's very
important! The first order of business is to see if you brought your piece of paper
to read and you did, so that's great! Um, and I think what I'll do before I read
you the award is just to hand you the mic and if you could just tell us a little bit
about yourselves!
Kueter: I'm Kate Kueter, um .... I'm new to Iowa City and Regina. Um ... and I'm from
Virginia. That's really it! (laughter) A leader is a person who helps others.
They are someone that sees the best in all people and will leave no one behind. A
leader is kind, responsible, and shows citizenship on many levels. I think I'm a
leader because I'm always nice, organized, and a good friend. I give my friend
good advice and help in school. I'm new to Iowa City and Regina. I am a ... I'm
very happy to have been picked for this award. I believe I am a good leader,
friend, and helper with many accomplishments in my years at ... in my year at
Regina. With my fellow Girl Scouts, we made a winning video against bullies. I
was selected to represent Regina at the 1 -book -2 -book contest, and I won with
my ... poem called "Being Ben." I hope I'm a lea ... good leader in sports too. All
these reasons are why I am a good leader. (applause)
Martin: Hi, my name is Sarah Martin. It is a big honor to receive this award. I want to
thank my teachers at Regina for nominating me. I try to do my best in the
classroom. I hope I'm being a good role model for younger children and my
classmates. I am involved in my church and family. I also serve at mass and try
to be strong with my faith. I help around the house and play with my brother and
two sisters. I also have an interest in sports. I play basketball and volleyball. I
feel like my whole team looks up to me. I get involved with camps during the
summer and push myself to try the best ... to try my best. Thank you so much for
choosing me for this award. I hope to be a successful person throughout my life.
(applause)
Hayek: Well those are great, and you know it's not easy to get up here and read a piece
with people watching and the ... and the TV cameras rolling and we even get
nervous up here and we've been doing it for quite a long time and we're adults!
So ... good job on that, and thank you for being so involved in your schools! It is
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regular formal meeting of April 7, 2015.
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really important, and you set an example for the kids who are behind you in
school and looking up to you. Um, and we just like showing people off who are
doing great things in the community. Um, I also want to thank your parents and
your teachers and everybody out there in the audience and ... and who ... who
might be watching who play an important role, uh, in... in your lives. So we have
a Student Leadership Award and there's one for each of you, as well as for Abby,
um, and it reads as follows: For her outstanding qualities of leadership within
Regina Elementary, as well as the community, and for 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 Council, April
2015. Kate, here's yours, and... Sarah, here is yours, and then, uh, I also want to
mention that Abby Kaska also, uh, received an award. She wasn't able to be here
tonight, but we'll make sure that she gets this as well. So let me shake your hand
here, and congratulate you, and as I say to everybody, you are welcome to stick
around and watch the rest of this meeting or go home and do homework! It's
your choice! Thank you! (applause)
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM
3a Arbor Day — April 7
Hayek: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Zac Hall, the City's Superintendent of Parks
and Forestry. (applause)
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM
ITEM 3b Fair Housing Month — April
Hayek: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is the President of the Iowa City Association of
Realtors, Shaner Magalhaes. (applause) (unable to hear speaker away from mic)
Only known you for 30 years! (unable to hear speaker) Okay! (laughter)
Magalhaes: ...correct that!
Karr: If I would have got it right you wouldn't have?
Magalhaes: So we practiced this beforehand!
Karr: I know! (laughter)
Magalhaes: Uh, my name is Shaner Magalhaes. I am the President of the Iowa City Area
Association of Realtors, Board of Directors, and just want to briefly thank the
City of Iowa City for partnering with our group and with realtors across the
country really, uh, in support of the Fair... Fair Housing Act. Um, as you're well
aware, with over a million members, realtors are certainly the biggest group of
people that support property rights and homeownership, and certainly that ... that
extends to fair housing issues, as well, and uh, we're just very appreciative of this
recognition and, uh, enjoy working with the City this month and throughout the
year! Thank you very much!
Hayek: Thanks, Shaner! (applause)
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS
ITEM 3a Hospice Volunteer Appreciation Week — April 12-18, 2015
Hayek: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Iowa City Hospice volunteer Gary Boseneiler.
(applause)
Boseneiler: If I can just say a couple quick words ... thank you, Mayor and City Council, for
recognizing volunteers. I'd like to challenge everyone to give time or money.
Really Iowa City is a ... we ... we, uh, benefit so much from the hours, um, spent to
help, especially with Iowa City Hospice. If it's a few minutes or a few hours each
week, just with, urn ... those who are, you know, end of life, just to help them go
out in ... in comfort. So we spend a lot of time, um, visiting. There's comfort
touch. There's healing. There's, um, just time. There's so many families here in
Iowa City that don't have friends or family, and that's kind of where volunteers
pay huge dividends and it cannot be, um, run without Sarah Neary who's the
Program Coordinator. She is the true leader of Iowa City Hospice. So, I give a
few minutes. She gives hours and hours every day. So thank you and thank you,
Sarah!
Hayek: Gary ... and Gary, I ... I just want to mention, you know, my family went through...
Boseneiler: Yes!
Hayek: ...hospice last year and ... and until you've gone through it on a very personal
level, you don't fully appreciate what it can do, uh, for a difficult situation. Um,
Iowa City Hospice just is ... is an incredible organization.
Boseneiler: Yes, and if I can just... summarize with... one... one program that, uh, we are the
leader of in the area, which is honoring your veterans. There's a program that
veterans who don't have family or friends, we ... we present those veterans with a
certificate, just to san ... thank them for their service, so ... I go out and I spend as
little as five minutes, if that's what they want, or hours, just talking about their
military service. So ... thank you again! (applause)
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ITEM 4. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS
PRESENTED OR AMENDED.
Hayek: So, uh, this brings us to Item 5, which is Community Comment. This is the
opportunity at each....
Karr: Consent Calendar!
Mims: Consent Calendar!
Hayek: Oh, good lord, yeah, we jumped all over there! (laughter) (reads Item 4)
Payne: Didn't we have something to amend?
Karr: We're going to amend the award amount, 4d(1), the Normandy Drive, to
$223,030.55.
Hayek Which is (both talking)
Payne: I will ... (both talking)
Hayek: Go ahead!
Payne: ...move that we approve with that amendment.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Again, 4d(1), the estimate has
dropped by $10,000 off of what is shown on the packet. Further discussion? Roll
call, please. Passes 7-0.
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ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA)
Hayek: This brings us to Community Comment. This is the opportunity at each City
Council meeting for members of the public to, uh, bring items to the Council's
attention. So if there's something that is not on tonight's agenda that you would
like to bring to our attention, we invite you to come forward. We ask that you
sign in, uh, verbally give us your name, and, uh, to please keep your comments to
five minutes or less. Is there anyone who wishes to address the Council?
Beadleston: Hi, my name is Joy Beadleston and I'm here to announce that the ADA
celebration, um, will be on July 25, 2015, and we're planning on having it in the
pedestrian mall. Um, and it's going to be from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. It is the
25th anniversary of the ADA, um, and we're hoping to have really great guests,
and we invite the City Council to please participate in this event as, um, leaders of
our community to represent people with disabilities and, you know, help work
with some of the issues. Also, um ... I wanted to say that we are looking for
people that are compassionate about wanting to work on the committee. Um, we
have a lot of organizations in the community that would be welcome, and if they
have any questions they can call us at Access to Independence, um, we'll be
spearheading the celebration, and our number's 319-338-3870, and also ... in an
effort to uplift the community and um, help lower crime, I'm working with the
University of Iowa "Day of Caring" United Way project, um, where the athletes
at the University of Iowa will give back to the community by cleaning up First
Avenue on the southeast side of Iowa City, which is in dire need (laughs) of help
with all the construction projects going on for the last two years and upcoming
four to five years, um (laughter) and uh... I don't want to be a person in the
community that just says, `okay, well there's construction so we'll just give up on
cleaning anything.' We really need to step up and I'm requesting that landlords,
um, property owners, and the community really help in keeping up the effort to
clean and um ... beautify that area. Um, this is the 45`'' year of Earth
Day... celebration and there's also international celebrations and so I know there's
a lot of people in our community that really are committed to beautifying Iowa
City, and I think we especially need to pay attention to the southeast side as many
businesses are going to ... probably suffer from some of these projects financially.
Um ... and that also will be working with the Access to Independence. If you have
any questions you can call us also at Access to Independence if you want to
contribute. Thank you!
Hayek: Thank you for your comments (several talking)
Botchway: I had a quick question (both talking)
Payne: Can you repeat the date and the time for the... anniversary for the ADA?
Beadleston: Yeah! Um, the date right now is at ... Saturday, July 25h. Um, it'll be from 11
A.M. to 2:00 P.M., and just in case I didn't mention it, the celebration for Earth
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Day with the Uni... versity of Iowa athletes will be on Sunday, April 26`h, from
9:30 to 11:30 and um ... you're welcome to contribute, uh, any way that you want
for that event. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you. Did you want to ask something?
Botchway: That was the same question.
Hayek: Great! Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on to Item 6, Planning and Zoning
Matters.
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ITEM 8. RELOCATION APPROVAL LETTER — MOTION FOR APPROPRIATE
DIRECTION FOR STAFF TO RESPOND TO A REQUEST FROM THE
CITY OF CORALVILLE FOR A LETTER INDICATING NO
OBJECTION TO THE EXPANSION OF LEEPFROG TECHNOLOGIES
IN CORALVILLE
Markus: I'm gonna ask, uh...
Hayek: We need to get this on the floor first!
Markus: Okay! Sorry!
Payne: Move adopt ... or move, uh ... (laughter) Whatever the motion is! (laughter)
Hayek: That's good enough! (several talking) Moved by ... moved by Payne... seconded
by .... Dickens! Discussion?
Mims: Do we know what we just moved?
Markus: I'm going to ask Wendy to just go through the report and kind of summarize the
issue for the benefit of the public so that they understand what's at hand. We
have, um, Lee Brintle here who is the CEO of Leepfrog and um, I would ask the
Mayor to allow him to come forward and... and make some comments. We also
have, uh, Mark Nolte who heads up ICAD, and uh, he's been involved in this
discussion, as well. Um ... just ... this ... this seems to be a moving issue. Uh, we
had this on the agenda about two weeks ago, and at that time we were asking for
general direction. The State, um, Department of Economic Development asked us
for a letter, indicating we did not object, uh, to ... a request for funding from, uh,
Leepfrog through the High Quality Jobs Act, and as a result of that, um, we put
that on the agenda with kind of an open direction, asking for direction from the
Council. More information kind of evolved between the time we placed it on the
agenda. It got to the meeting, and so the Council ended up continuing that item
from the previous meeting, until ... a ... a future meeting. We put it back on in part
because, um, the IEDA indicated to us that they had to have an answer to the
question of whether we objected or not this week, and so this being the only
meeting scheduled of the City Council, we put it back on. So, with Wendy
starting it off, um, kind of giving you some more of the detail background, and
framing the issue, both for you and for our audience, uh, then we can get into the
discussion, uh, with Lee. I think Lee has some updated information that's
contrary to information that we sent out in the late packet. Uh, so I want him to
explain that, and maybe the nature of the, um, the business. And what I want to
say is Lee has been, uh, exceptionally pleasant to deal with (laughter) and he's
been a good business representative in our community. We don't wish to lose
him, okay, but he has to make decisions in his own realm, what's best for him,
and so ... there's a juxtaposition here against what our interests are. Um, we're,
you know, the largest, oldest, the core city in this particular metropolitan area, and
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as such, we are vulnerable, I suspect, to businesses, you know, looking at green
pastures... instead of necessarily reinvesting in our community. Recent legislation
has been put in place, uh, to try and protect places like us, uh, from losing
business from one community to another, and of course that goes back to the
whole Von Maur discussion. So with that kind of initial frame, I'm going to ask,
um, Wendy to kind of comment on ... the ... the issue at hand, to ... to begin with.
Ford: Hi, I'm Wendy Ford, Co ... uh, Economic Development Coordinator for the City,
and um, I'm here with the, uh, for the Leepfrog issue, and ... and as you know, the
City of Coralville requested a letter approving of the Iowa City -based Leepfrog
Technologies' expansion to Coralville. The request for that letter is a standard
procedure when a business based in one community applies for State funding
from another community, uh... uh, through the Iowa Economic Development
Authority Business Financial Assistance programs, and this is one of those.
While staff s review of the Leepfrog, uh, financial application to the State, which
was submitted around February 5 of...of 2015 reveals that the proposed financing
for the project includes $495,000 from the City of Coralville. An accompanying,
uh, memo from ICAD indicated that that ... source of that $495,000 was TIF
funding. Uh, and that was to be matched with the, uh, State funding for which
they've applied, uh, $50,000 in investment tax credits, $91,575 in State sales tax
refunds for materials used in the construction of a new building, and a $5,000
research activities credit, totaling about $146,818 from the State. (clears throat)
Well such funding that is with the Coralville's TIF, uh... uh, financing as part of
the package being offered triggers the, uh, new TIF rules regarding the use of TIF
in one community to assist in the relocation, uh, to another Iowa community. So
thus while Coralville has only asked for a letter to the State, the package of
assistance being offered also requires a written agreement approving the use of
TIF funds, pursuant to Iowa Code Section 403.19. Leepfrog is a software
developer for higher education and has been in business, uh, started in business in
Iowa City in 1994. Their original office was located on ACT Circle up in the
north end, just off, uh, Dodge Street and in the early years they, uh, were among
other things they were internet service providers, and I say that because that
required a significant investment in infrastructure they made in Iowa City, uh,
using that ACT Circle, um, office as their, uh, home base, and they will continue
to use the ACT, uh, Circle address, as well, but it won't require the number of
employees that, um, that it has once, uh, and it once housed. Uh, at one time, uh,
at least when we were early on beginning to work with Leepfrog in finding a
suitable location for them in Iowa City, they were up to about 27 employees at the
ACT Circle office, and had a project at hand that would have required them to
grow their company to 70 employees. That's what triggered the, um, the finding
of a temporary location, which turned out to be in the U of I Office Research Park
in late 2013. Uh, they subsequently did grow, did get a number of, uh... uh, did
get some of the work that they, uh, had, uh, projected and they grew to 47
employees, and uh, earlier ... or should say later in 2013, after that move was
made, they decided, okay, now is the time to really engage in finding a permanent
location. And so, um, talks began, uh, between the City of Iowa City. We tried to
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help. In fact I think we presented seven or eight different locations that, uh,
would have been, uh, good, each of which had its own, uh, upsides and
downsides. We were very, um, cognizant of the needs of the company wanting,
uh, good interstate access and also a somewhat rural, uh, setting in which to
operate their business. So that leant itself well to many of the ... many of the
locations that we found in Iowa City for them. However, um, finding a new
location is a big job, and being a good businessperson, uh, Lee Brintle and his, uh,
company leaders decided to hire a site consultant. That consultant being
Proximity, a company based out of Des Moines. Proximity, um, helped them, uh,
narrow down sites that would work and included in the sites under consideration
was one in Iowa City and, uh, two in the University of Iowa Research Park area.
The one in Iowa City was ruled out shortly, or ... or soon because the, uh, the cost
to get that site up and running, that is it needed some infrastructure. It needed a
lot of other expenses put into it made it cost prohibitive. So, uh, Proximity then
had them narrow down to the two sites in Coralville in the, uh, in the University
of Iowa Research Park. But we ... after Proximity be ... became involved, we were
not, uh, as privy to the next steps, and didn't realize that, uh, that Leepfrog was
literally slipping from our grasp here in ... in Iowa City ... until we were asked by
the State of Iowa to provi... to provide this letter of approval, um, for Leepfrog to
move into, um, the city of Coralville. When that happened, uh, we sprang into
action and we invited Lee to a meeting. We sat around the ... the table and learned
about, uh, more about his company, more about the direction they were taking,
and again, the large growth that they were expecting over the coming years, and
in planning ahead, the designers for the two remaining sites they had on their list
that Proximity had presented for them, uh, the Proximity had suggested that they
go with an option that provided an additional 5,000 square feet of space in
which... into which they could grow over the coming years as these research and
development projects they have in the ... in the lab so to speak right now came to
fruition and need to ... and needed to be, uh, implemented. Um, so, uh, here we
find ourselves in the awkward position of playing by State rules and fighting to
keep an Iowa City business in Iowa City. We have been, uh, working with
Proximity to better understand their role in this process, and we have, uh, been
working with ICAD to try and set up a meeting to help us understand, uh, their...
their roles and... and perhaps more importantly to help them understand the
difficult position that we are placed in, uh, by having had their, um ... their and
Coralville sponsorship of the State application for these funds, uh, require this
letter of approval, and incidentally, uh, an agreement for the use of Coralville's
TIF funds to match those funding... that... that State funding with. So, uh... at
mid-afternoon today, the City Manager received a letter from, uh... uh, Coralville
City Administrator Kelly Hayworth, stating that Leepfrog's application for State
funding was being withdrawn because the City of Coralville could not, uh,
comply with the requirements that staff is requesting they do in this letter of
agreement that we've sent. The letter in your packet states that we would in fact
approve of Leepfrog's move to Coralville, completely understanding a business's
need for a good home, a place to grow, uh, and ... the fact that we did not have a
suitable place for them. However, we wanted Coralville to, urn ... to enact a
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communication protocol, and I think we'll go into a little more description of that,
or, uh, something very similar to a com... to the communication protocol that has
been presented, uh, to you, and ... on which you voted and ... and approved a few
weeks ago at this point, but which the City of Coralville, uh, or other neighbors
have not. We really would like to see that, uh, or a similar communications
protocol agreed to by the City of Coralville if they're going to, urn ... and if they
would enable Leepfrog's move in this manner. Additional... additionally we
would ask for a written agreement between the City of Iowa City and the City of
Coralville regarding a relocation of, uh, Leepfrog, prior to the use of the City of
Coralville's use of TIF funds to help make that happen, to include an agreement
by them that they would support a subsequent, uh, move by Leepfrog back to
Iowa City, uh, in the event that they or any of their subsidiaries or spinoffs might
consider doing that. We would not want to have to be in the position of having to
grant Coralville, um, permission or... or strike an agreement with them on such a
similar thing. So, staff is still recommending that we proceed sending this letter
to the State, um, but that we add a cover letter stating that we've been informed
that the application for State funding has been withdrawn because Coralville
could not comply with the conditions. Again, while we know this has put both
Leepfrog and the City in an awkward position, we feel this could have been
avoided by having had a communication protocol or some such agreement to
begin talking about this kind of, um, event before it comes .... up so quickly and so
public, urn...at...at hand like it is ... like it is right now. So I ... I'd take any
questions or ... uh... ask for any other input.
Markus: There was two, uh, late pieces of information that hit your packet. Uh, one was a
letter from Proximity, um, that was fairly critical of us, including the IEDA
application on behalf of Leepfrog, um, because it incorporated confidential
information. The fact of the matter is, urn ... that information was provided by the
City Administrator of Coralville, and when he transferred that information to us,
he had redacted pages 9 and 10, uh, which had salary information in it, which may
be a competitive, uh, concern of a company. Uh, in talking to Mr. Brintle, uh, he
was satisfied that the information that remained in that document, just this
evening in speaking with him, that was not an issue to them. That letter came
from the consultant and uh, Mr. Brintle indicated that he would speak with the
consultant about that. So ... you know, last night during the, uh, final, uh,
championship game, uh, I'm scurrying around and... Wendy's scurrying around
and ... Matt's hearing from us about all of these discussions, and so we resolved
that ... that particular issue. Uh, the other thing that happened today is we received
a letter from, uh, Mr. Hayworth, and Mr. Hayworth indicated ... I think as Wendy
indicated, that they were withdrawing, um, their application, um, to IEDA for
funding, and I ... I caught Mr., uh, Brintle's eye and we had a conversation here
just now. He's indicated that he's not withdrawn that application. And yet the
letter that we received indicated that both the City and, urn ... Leepfrog had
withdrawn that application. That's not the case. Urn ... I think the conditions,
quite frankly, that we are proposing, um, are sound. Quite frankly, this staff
has ... I think until tomorrow to respond to IEDA, okay? That's not something that
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we control, and so ... your staff has been busy scurrying around, spending several
hours trying to respond to this, trying to make sense of this, trying to, you know,
work through all of these ... parts of this moving part, and so we came up with
conditions. Now the one condition is the communication protocol. I can tell you,
I've spent a... at least the last two plus years, two and a half years, working with
our neighbors to try and develop a protocol. It's been refined. It's been refined.
It's been refined. We finally got to a document, um ... quite frankly that I thought
most of us were pretty much in agreement with. Now I'll tell ya, you know, when
you negotiate an agreement, there's give and take on both sides of an agreement.
I mean, it isn't all one-way. It never is! And so there were things in there that I
probably thought we could have had stronger language. And there was things in
there that they thought maybe should have had ... not as strong of language. But I
think we came to a point where that agreement was somewhat satisfactory to
the ... to the parties at hand. We had a, um, a communication between, uh, some
officials from both jurisdictions and it ... I think it created a bit of a rift and at the
time, um ... we heard from one of the jurisdictions that they just couldn't move
forward with it now. It was ... it was ... it was not going to move forward. So...
I'd kind of given up on this whole communication protocol idea, even though we
invested a lot of time in this, and um ... Mark Nolte came to me and Mark said,
you know, I think that thing really has value! And I think it's ... it's necessary.
And you know it's unfortunate that you'd have to have an agreement to
communicate. Right? I mean, it seems kinda odd, but believe it not, there's a
number of these agreements in this state, just for this same purpose, and across the
country. So this ... this agreement is not unusual. And it sets out a protocol when
one business from a jurisdiction wants to move to another jurisdiction. It sets out
a whole way to communicate back and forth between the communities. So we
don't end up in a situation where a Von Maur occurs. So we put that in as a
condition of approval! Okay? We didn't want to hurt, uh, Lee Brintle, or
Leepfrog. Uh, we want them to stay in the area. We'd much prefer that they stay
in our jurisdiction and he knows that, and we actually offered more recent
suggestions about where he could relocate, but ... like so many things in business, I
think you get down a path so far and it's hard to kind of pull back at that point and
as Lee'll tell ya, he's very candid, um, that's not his area of expertise. That's why
they ended up hiring a consultant. So that was one of the provisions. The other
provision is when you look at the application, the application has a commitment
for TIF funds. And so you know that the TIF law says that if a business moves
from one jurisdiction to the other, and they're using incentives, then ... then the
community that's using the incentives has to have an agreement from the
community of origin ... where that business came from! So that was the other
provision we put in there, and so ... quite frankly, you know, I wasn't sure we'd
...we'd heard a lot of feedback about, um, the Coralville Council not being happy
with the communication protocol. Um, I think there was some, you know, maybe
some miscommunication on that side of the fence and ... and ... and it didn't get
communicated. I still think the thing has value! And I .... and it's just hard for me
to imagine ... that you could oppose an agreement to communicate! Um, and I
think, and we've stated it repeatedly throughout our... our reports, that from our
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position, um, we think that if we would have been communicating about these
issues early on, we wouldn't have been rushed around, uh, trying to ... to figure
this all out. The Manager's office, the City Attorney's office, the Economic
Development office, the Planning office — all of us have been involved in this for
the last couple weeks off and on, trying to figure it out, trying to we ... weigh
through it. So with that kind of backdrop for you to understand it .... our
recommendation is likely to be, unless we hear comments from Mr. Brintle, or
Nolte to the contrary, um, that we would send this letter on as we were requested,
um, indicating that was the letter we intended to present to the IEDA, which is the
Iowa Economic Development Agency, um, but on the cover indicate that we
understand that there's some confusion about whether this is being pursued or not.
But I would ... um, I'd ask that you invite Mr. Brintle up, um ... he's a good
businessperson. He seems like, quite frankly he's caught in the middle of kind of
an awkward situation between two jurisdictions and at least hear him out!
Hayek: And, uh, thanks for that, and we will but I ... I want to clarify for ... for myself, I
mean, this is not a situation in which ... the situation is not limited to ... a business's
decision to relocate from ... or ... or reduce operations in one place and ... and
increase `em in another. Um ... the ... the distinction here is that there is a subsidy
involved. Um....
Markus: Yeah.
Hayek: ...and in fact there are ... two such subsidies in this case — one has to do with a
State job's program and the other has to do with what's called tax increment
financing. And what's before us on the agenda tonight is a letter that staff
prepared, um, in response to a request from Coralville, uh, for, urn ... a ... a ... a
letter to the State, uh, regarding that ... that first subsidy, the high-quality job's
program funding, uh, indicating that we don't have any objection to, uh, to the
relocation. Um ... and ... and I ... and I note cause ... in ... in the letter that's... that's
before us, uh, spells this out, among the criteria they look at, at the State level, in
considering these applications, uh, includes the following. That the business shall
not be in the process of reducing operations in one community while
simultaneously applying for assistance under the program. Um, and ... and there's
other language in there about... about the reduction in operations in the city that...
that the businesses, uh, moving from or moving much of its operations out of. Do
I have that right?
Markus: That's correct.
Hayek: Okay, and that ... that the second piece, which has to do with the tax increment
funding, or tax increment financing, um, subsidy comes from, uh, a different
statute, and this is the statute that was amended in 2012, um ... but contains, uh,
similar references to, uh, using public subsidies, um, that bring about a reduction
in operations, substantial reduction in operations in the city of origin.
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Markus: Right.
Hayek: Okay.
Markus: The other thing that we included in the packet, and I ... I just re ... was reminded
that... in part by your comments, we had put in some correspondence about
Connect 5 and you recall that was a business that we brought before the Council,
and they sought, uh, funding through the State, as well, and ... and in that case we
approved it. We did put the provisions in that if they ever chose to move back
that, uh, Coralville could not block that. But ... there seems to be kind of
competing juxtapose policy issues here, and one is to help business and have
business survive, and the other is ... is not to have, urn ... our business be the, uh,
place where people come to recruit business out and use incentives to do it.
There's no question that business has ... it's a free country. Business can move
from one jurisdiction to the other. It isn't free any more when public incentives
are used. And that's where the law, um, doesn't necessarily view that as ... the...
the most expeditious use of public funds to induce new business.
Hayek: Okay. Well I'm sure we'll have more conversation, but, Mr. Brintle, if you'd like
to come forward and... and.... anyone else from the audience, as well.
Brintle: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor and the Council. Uh, my name is Lee Brintle.
I'm the CEO of, uh, Leepfrog Technologies, where ... you know, been talked
about a lot today, but ... we've been in business in, uh, Iowa City since 1994, and
starting about 2008, 2009 we opened up a new product line where we were selling
software to colleges and universities around the country. All three, uh, Iowa
Regents' schools, over half of the Ivy league, a lot of the most academically,
complex institutions had started using our software to manage their catalogs, their
curriculum, setting up their scheduling, helping the process of academic change.
We've been growing pretty aggressively. I mean, that's been kind of one of the
things that's been going on and we moved from 27 employees. We now have
almost 60. Uh, we have a backlog of open positions, um, and uh... are trying to
ramp up operations because the number of applications that these institutions have
asked us to write, that grow on those ideas and be able to develop new areas is
pretty large. The IEDA application talks about a new R&D project with, uh,
Brown University and Yale, and some of the staff we'll be hiring in order to ... to
meet that funded R&D request. We've been struggling with capacity for the last
few years and we've been moving from our own building which we own in Iowa
City behind the Sinclair gas station, kind of on the corner of Dodge and I-80, um,
and that was our data center. It's out network operation center. We outgrew that
facility. We tried to find good class -A office space and there was no room
available in either Iowa City or Coralville. We're strongly dedicated to the area.
We are an Iowa software shop. I'm a transplant from other states. Moved here in
1987 and ... and my heart is very much an Iowan, uh, at this point. We very much
wanted to build our operations. We rented a short-term lease, um, and ... moved
everybody to Coralville, remodeled the Iowa City facility. As we overflowed we
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moved people back in Iowa City. We remodeled the Iowa City facility twice to
increase the office space. We had to remodel the facility in Oakdale in order to be
able to use that, and we're having a little bit of a... an operational challenge with
our staff split between the two locations in Iowa City and in Coralville. So when
we started looking for the new area, we knew that we wanted to combine the
majority of our operations under one roof. We did not start off thinking about
Iowa City or Coralville. We started off thinking about good locations for our
staff. Our biggest barrier to growth is the ability to regrou ... recruit good staff.
It's a, you know, the ... one of the reasons why we're located in the area in the first
place is that our staff here, uh, with the University, with the community and the
environment that's been created ... is absolutely fantastic and we'd like to hire
people as quickly as possible. One of the things that Proximity helped us do was
to survey the staff, find different criteria that were important to them, such as
proximity, uh, shortness of commute, uh, and the other environments, and we
came up with a couple good property sites in Iowa City, um, and a couple good
property sites in ... in Coralville, and we made the decision about Iowa City,
Coralville based on which... property was both best for the employees and which
one the builders of the property, the developers of the property, were able to give
us the most clearly defined plans and the best ones that matched up with our
growth potential. The decision to move from Iowa City to Coralville was more
for us the finding a location and saying that this is where we want to build the...
the new facility and we want to be able to combine kind of the operations there.
The ... so one of the things that's going on ... I've learned far more about the
communications protocol and for the TIF and the agreements between the City in
the last month or so than I knew prior to going into this, and I think that one of the
things that's important here is that the decision about where to relocate the
business was done without the considerations of...of the incentives. This is not a
case of we were incentivized to move out of Iowa City. We actively attempted to
find good locations in both communities, uh, and also in North Liberty, to be able
to figure out where we wanted to house our facilities. Where we're asking for
public assistance, and I'm now very well aware of the fact that, you know, the
public assistance request is what's triggering the review here, is that we're trying
to get ahead of our growth curve. We're trying to make sure that we're not going
to move facilities again, or that we're not going to outgrow our facility and, uh,
start up a new facility in ... in another location because we're sick of moving back
and forth between the multiple facilities. In some ways that's a perfect match
with the IEDA grant. These are good jobs. We're writing software. We're
exporting the software out of Iowa to colleges, universities around the United
States and Canada, um, and this is kind of building up good jobs in the
community and in the area is one of the, you know, perfect fits for the IEDA grant
and one of the reasons why we pursued it. Um, it is definitely, and I very much
apologize for the frenetic way in which this whole thing has come down. If I had
known that this was coming I think that, you know, uh, once we started talking
with Tom I think that things went a little bit ... a lot more smoothly and it's
definitely something that I should personally have done, uh, months ago and I
apologize for the, uh, you know, for the accelerated agenda that that's coming
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through here. But I wanted to hear your story and thank you very much for letting
me have the opportunity to kind of tell you a little bit about that process and how
we ended up where we're at. The... unfortunately because of how the grant
deadlines work, we're probably getting to a point where in order for us to move
into the building and proceed forward, we just kind of need some clear direction
from both communities about where we should go. Um ... this project, to move
into a combined facility, is something that we were prepared for and are still
prepared for to completely self -fund. The big question is with the additional State
assistance, about what we can do to plan for future growth in the area. And either
way though right now operationally we do need to combine the facilities, and
because of how the deadlines are coming down, we kind of just need some sort of
clear direction from both communities on how to move forward, um, and so
I'd ... I'd, you know, I ... I can't really ask for anything because I don't understand
all the politics and I don't understand all of the issues about this in going forward,
but I wanted to let you know a little bit about what my company was thinking in
general and about what I was personally thinking as we were making this decision
about how to... get a new facility that allows us to expand our... our opportunities
in the area. Thank you very much (both talking)
Hayek: We ... we appreciate that, sir!
Botchway: I had a quick question.
Hayek: Yeah!
Botchway: So this is a complete move from Iowa City to Coralville. You talked about the
combined part of it, but there's no thought of...as far as leaving, you know, uh,
any particular remnant or keeping the office building that you currently have.
Brintle: Well we are ... thank you very much. We are definitely keeping our current office
building. That's our data center, so we've ... um, we have private fiber optic lines
that run down Scott Boulevard, to tie together ... we have ... when you have a data
center, it's important that you have multiple telecommunication providers. So we
have private fiber optic out to Liberty Communications, which then goes out, um,
through netINS, and then we also have Century Link, which is the provider inside
Iowa City. We've invested a lot of money building up the data center and the
facilities inside Iowa City, and we're actually about halfway through doubling the
capacity of the data center. As the personnel move out of the data center in Iowa
City, we will be expanding that to be more, more servers. We're going to double
the size of our machine room, uh, and as I mentioned we're getting more and
more, uh, communication capacity being brought online. So our staff will not be
completely eliminated from the Iowa City office. We'll still have, um, some level
of data center operators, but the developers, the project managers, the ... we do a
lot of catalog editing, so a lot of, um, English and journalism, uh, kind of work,
and ... and library kind of work, and a lot of that will be combined into the ... or
will be moved to the new facility. So we will staff an operation in Iowa City. It's
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still a building that we're owning, um, versus the building in Coralville will be
something that we're renting and ... I will still consider myself to be an Iowa
Citian.
Markus: But I would point out in terms of the ... the way the law reads, um, it is likely to be
a reduction in at least the peak loads of staffing that were at the ACT Tour ... uh,
ACT Circle site, urn ... based on just the application information, and you know, as
a practical matter, I think Lee would agree that ... that concentrating the employees
in one location, um, probably makes sense for the company, which then causes
this trip to come in that, um, it's... it's a relocation of .. of workforce and a
reduction in our community.
Hayek: Thank you, Mr. Brintle.
Brintle: Thank you!
Markus: I... I think it may be beneficial to, for... for Mark, um, to comment. Mark was
involved in kind of the communication process during all of this, as well, and it's
probably good to hear from Mark Nolte as to ICAD's involvement.
Nolte: Good evening. Uh, I don't know how much more I can add. I'm happy to take
any questions. We, uh... I think as Wendy mentioned, the company was smart to
focus on working on their business, hire this, uh, organization Proximity to help
with the site selection process. Uh, we had very limited communication with
them. We did indicate on several times that if a move to Coralville was eminent
that they needed to communicate that as soon as possible. That didn't happen.
Um, so, uh, there's some issues with communication. We're going to meet with
that company next Tuesday morning and make sure that that ... that gets resolved,
should they ever work a project in this area again. Uh, I bear some of that blame.
I should have been more, uh... urn ... forthcoming and assertive in making sure
Proximity was communicating, and I apologize for that. So I feel like I ... I bear
some of the responsibility, uh, for putting Lee in this position. Lee's running a
good company. He's just trying to do the best, uh, for his organization and uh...
so as ... the City Manager said, there are really three issues. One is this ... for them
to apply for the State funding they do need a letter saying it's okay, um .... from
Iowa City, for them to apply for the State funding. Um, the TIF issue I don't
think is as pressing, but still important. Uh, not as pressing in terms of timeline,
as far as when that needs to get done. Um, obviously quickly for them if they're
going to ... to build, but the bigger issue about the communication protocol is ... is
something I ... I feel very passionate about. There's... we've got to find a way to
rebuild the trust, uh, between these communities and to me increased
communication is this .... is where you start on that, and I ... I echo Tom's
sentiment. I don't understand why ... why we can't have more communication and
so, uh, we're trying to do everything we can to encourage the communities to ... to
kind of bury the hatchet and ... and look at the future, and ... and avoid situations
like this, uh.... so ... this is an awkward position. Again, I ... I know no one on the
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Council wants to do anything to damage Lee's ability to grow the business. Um,
I'm happy to take any questions you have or ... clarify anything.
Hayek: Well I ... I ... I appreciate you, um ... your comments, Mark, although I'm not ... I'm
not sure it's ICAD's job to ... um ... to ... to tackle these, uh, review processes that
are called out under State law, in the case of the High Quality Jobs Program, one
statute, and the case of the TIF assistance, another statute, both of which have the
same... triggers and relocation of operations, um, language. Um, so ... uh... I
mean, that would be my comment in response to ... to ... to the apology, um, cause I
don't think it's warranted. Um ... but with respect to the communications protocol
...we appreciate, uh, ICAD's efforts in this regard. I completely concur, um,
that ... that would be of benefit to the area and it's something that ICAD has
supported, the Chamber has supported, the Press -Citizen has supported. I believe
Corridor Business Journal has supported. Um, and it's my hope that we can get...
something, if not what we passed a few weeks ago, something similar to it, and I
applaud your group for picking this issue up after it appeared moribund. So...
Markus: Let me just give you a ... kind of a practical application in the communication
protocol. Lee starts looking for his new location. He needs more space. Um, he
ends up talking to a neighboring community. Doesn't have to be Coralville —
another neighboring community! And in that particular case, um, with the
protocol, Lee would have known at that time that ... there are these provisions in
State law, and knowing those provisions in State law, probably would have
caused him to talk to his consultant. His consultant should have known this as
well. And have maybe a more directed search in the community where they're
currently located. And I think that was a part of the equation in the decision-
making that would have occurred as to a site location preference for his expanded
operation. And I think that might have made a huge difference in this whole
thing. So ... when you think about the communication protocol, you have to ask
why wouldn't somebody be supportive of that? I mean ... the idea is ... quite
frankly is to keep the businesses in the community where they currently are. And
when people are out searching, they may not know about these statutory
provisions that make it very difficult to secure in many cases what is probably
needed, some very needed incentive monies to make those expansions to make
these businesses grow! So, from my perspective, I think you have to ... you have
to keep that in mind, and unfortunately it appears like you're making an example
out of Leepfrog in this particular case, but that's not the desire! I mean the desire
is, quite frankly, we're the core city. We have a lot of businesses in this town,
and quite frankly you can't really afford to lose any of `em! It's employment.
It's tax base. It's travel times, you know, for your citizens in terms of where
they're employed. So I think all those things are important when we make a
decision on these types of things. And you know it's ... it's not about, you know,
being above all this. It's, you know, representing our community, and so ... that's
my big concern in all of this, and I think we've kind of got Leepfrog kind of
caught in this situation, between the jurisdictions, and I just ... I don't like doing
that to anybody! So...
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Throgmorton: Can I toss two -cents in ... worth in here, um, I'm completely supportive of the
communications protocol. I think... completely agree. I'm totally persuaded by
the way you've laid it out over the many, many months. So ... and we've already
voted on it. We ... supported it. Um, but I would say also that the way Lee has
narrated his tale about searching ... here....that he's not been lured away by
Coralville's enticement, you know, using TIF to ... as a bait. Uh, so I think it's
just worth ... important to acknowledge that and ... and I don't know how that
influences our action tonight, but... it... it is a different kind of process.
Markus: Well, and I ... I found him to be very ca ... candid, very open about the process. He
admits what he does and doesn't know, and (laughs) you know, that's kind of
refreshing, and ... and ... uh, in ... I wouldn't call him a victim, but I would say that,
you know, he probably didn't have full knowledge of everything that's in play
when these decisions get made.
Hayek: But, Jim, to ... you know, this ... there is a ... it's documented that there is a
substantial reduction in the ... in the personnel operations, um ... and...
Throgmorton: Yeah, I'm not denying that.
Hayek: ...whether you're looking at the High Quality Jobs funding or the ... or the local
TIF, uh, sub ... subsidy, uh, State law looks at that and ... and ... and that's part of
the calculus is, you know, what kind of reduction is there, um, and if...if those
criteria are triggered, it requires this process where the ... the jurisdiction losing
those operations... you know, has asked to weigh in and so, um, we ... we're ... I
mean I think ... and I applaud staff for ... for figuring this out very quic... on very
short notice, you know. We had to look at both (noises on mic) and apply them
to ... to the situation. Urn ... and ... the subsidies are what they are, but ... anyway.
So, Mark, anything else you wanted to add?
Nolte: If I may. In the 20 -some years that Leepfrog's been operating, they haven't taken
a dime of public assistance, but I think one of the ... and I think that's
commendable, and so I ... I echo your point, uh, that this isn't about being lured
away, but I think the issue with the communications protocol, there will be other
situations where companies are shopping, and having a protocol that allows the
City Managers to communicate what's going on will save taxpayer money,
regardless of what jurisdiction they go to, and I think that's an important, um, part
of why an agreement like this needs to be made. We get outside consultants and
groups from other parts that ... that do shop incentives, and the ability for the
community, the City Managers to be able to ... to exchange that information and
make sure that no one's putting more on the table than needs be, and that they are
looking at a gap analysis, um, it will be critical. So I think that's... that's just
good financial... fiscal policy for the region as a whole.
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Botchway: And, Mark, quick question — as far as, and I don't remember the communication
protocol, so it might be a Mark/Tom question, what about the ... the fact that
information, um, that might be shared between City Managers would be public? I
mean from a shopping perspective, that could be disadvan ... or not advantageous
for, I mean obviously an individual like Lee. Or Eleanor (both talking)
Markus: I'm going to ask Eleanor to address that, because that question has come up.
Botchway: Okay!
Dilkes: Yeah, um... we have a lot of, I mean, we're acutely aware when we're talking
about, um, economic development and potential incentives, at the earlier stages at
the staff level, that we have to take measures to ... to keep that information
confidential, and I don't see that that would change because there was a staff
communication between two cities and frankly I don't recall that really ever being
an issue during the discussions on the communication protocol over the last two
and a half years.
Markus: If you ... if you look at Simon Andrew's analysis of the whole communication
protocol, and the history and the objections that were noted in a newspaper article,
we have commented on each of those particular provisions.
Botchway: Okay!
Markus: The one thing I want to say is, at the end of the day we're recommending...
recommending for this to occur! And the sub... subject tos are a communication
protocol, not necessarily the exact protocol, um ... Eleanor was very artful in
crafting a provision that suggested that there's still room to discuss that. But that
protocol is really critical, and it's something you need going forward, and I told
you at the last meeting I don't like to force these things on anybody! But I've
been in this business a long time and I can tell you that recommendations come
forward to Councils all the time and people question them, only to have months
later people say, you know, that was the right thing to do! That did make sense!
And I think this is one of those, okay? There ... there may be some personalities
involved. There may be some angst involved in all of this. But this is a good
thing to do! And others have done it around the country. It works in other places!
And .... 1 think it should work here. Now the other condition in this whole thing is
the ... the, uh, pilot, or the pirate, um ... provisions, the piracy provisions that were
enhanced as a part of the amendment to the TIF law, and if they're going to use
TIF, whether by enticement or by ... you know, uh, default because it made sense
for this build -out, uh, and maybe you know, Lee probably didn't have a whole lot
of conversation about that at all. It was probably the builder, um, who's working
on that issue. Well, that's not an issue that you want to give up! And our intent is
not to create this difficult negotiation to get to those agreements. But to es...
establish kind of the precedence going forward and how we're going to behave.
And ... that cuts both ways! I mean, that cuts with a business coming back this
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way. Without those things, what is this, the wild west? We're all just gonna go
out and recruit from each other, and just throw incentives at people? How good is
that? I mean we're already being criticized for the use of TIF. How smart is it to
be just in a wild, open competition where we're just... throwing more and more
TIF money at everybody cause we're in this crazy competition? That's what
these things try to avoid! And that's why I think they have value, um, in our... in
our situation. So we're not....you know we could have taken the position `No,
we're not doing this until there is!' We took the position `Yeah, we'll approve it,
but subject to these things.' Okay? Coral wants... Coralville wants this to
happen. They can step up and make these things happen by agreeing to those
things! They're... they're not (laughs) it's ... it's not a death penalty! It's a ... it's a
situation where, you know, we're going to have to cooperate better! We're going
to have to communicate better! How can you be against communication?
Hayek: Thanks, Mark! Anyone else from the audience? Council discussion?
Dickens: I'm just surprised that, uh, it hasn't even gone to a vote in Coralville, uh, after
going to the ICAD meeting with ... with Tom and it was unanimously passed,
including by their City Manager, I'm just surprised that it hasn't... hasn't moved
forward with Coralville, at least so we can know where ... where they're coming
from (mumbled) any kind of vote. Um ... I feel for Leepfrog cause I know
business is tough and ... and we really don't want to do anything to hurt you. And
it's a very simple move. All Coralville has to do is sign it. It ... it just seems so
simple and .... and I don't know why they're dragging their feet but that's... that's
their Council and we have to do what we have to do to protect our interests,
and ... and talking to their former Mayor, Fawcett, he said he would do anything
that he had to to make Coralville go, so ... that ... that's kind of the attitude it seems
to be taking there. So I think ... we ... we have to do the best to protect our
interests.
Mims: Well I would agree, I mean I've been supportive of the communication protocol
since we, you know, first started having those discussions, and I think, again, you
know, why people would not want to improve and increase communication so we
can, you know, know what's going on and hopefully avoid problems and ... and
avoid mistakes, and you know, so I'm totally supportive of that. I ... I guess I'm
also disappointed in this case, even without the communication protocol, that Lee
and Leepfrog would get so far down the road, um, without being informed by
either Coralville or their consultant, um, of these possibilities that, you know, if
there was public money involved, that, you know, the release letters that ... that
would have to come from Coralville, or come from Iowa City, and so I think it's
really unfortunate that that wasn't, uh, communicated to the company, you know,
well in advance as you were doing your planning. Um ... but again I think, you
know, we've ... we've tried to work on this communication protocol for over two
years. Um, you know, it was kind of dead until Mark and ICAD, uh, you know,
brought this back forward, and we appreciate that and um ... unfortunately I think
we need to use the leverage that we have available to us, to try and get this done,
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urn ... rather ... rather it would be done much more cooperatively and voluntarily,
but I ... (laughs) I'm sorry, I just don't see a downside to a good communications
protocol.
Payne: Well, the downside is you have to play by the rules then! (laughs) I mean, that's
the bottom line, right? When you want to play by the rules, it doesn't seem like a
bad thing to do, but ... so it's kind of looking at it from the other side is ... maybe
they don't want to play by the rules! And it's unfortunate that Leepfrog is kind of
caught in the middle! (several talking)
Brintle: Um, I did want to clarify something a ... a little bit. We ... were aware throughout
the entire thing that there might be some issues about if we were to pursue public
funding, so...
Mims: Okay.
Brintle: ...when we were evaluating that, at that point that we were looking at moving, at
making the legitimate move, we were in an area where we already had operations
in both communities, and no matter what we wanted to do, one of the two
communities was going to lose jobs. So either the 30 people in Coralville were
going to be moved to a facility inside Iowa City, or the ... you know, 12 people in
Iowa City were going to be moving to a facility in Coralville. So we thought that
the issue was going to be true about needing to get the consent of the other
community no matter which way we went.
Markus: And ... and Lee, I need to (both talking)
Brintle: ...and that's not quite true, but that's the .... that's what was our impression.
Markus: ... and ... and Lee, I need to comment on that. Your community of origin was Iowa
City. When you started looking, the communication that our staff recalls was that
that was going to be an interim location. I thought the first thing when I heard
your story, and I'll be completely candid about this too was ... well maybe that has
an impact on the way the law is interpreted. And maybe that will be the challenge
at some point in the future. But quite frankly the more I thought about it the more
I realized that if in fact people were allowed to relocate on an interim basis, that
would be the way to beat the law. And I don't see that that's ... that was the intent
or the purpose of the law, and so they make an interim move, then they claim
that's their residence, and then they go the other way. (both talking) And so
that's why I got back to the point — you're our comm. .... you're our company,
okay?
Brintle: And this is ... and Iowa City is our community (both talking)
Markus: Yeah, and we want you here, and so I don't see it as a... if or this kind of situation
back and forth.
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Brintle: I was just trying to explain a little bit about what we were thinking and
why... even though we knew that this might be an issue, it didn't come up until
later on in the process. So it turns out that that, as you pointed out, that that was
not ... that that was not accurate, but that was a little bit of our thinking.
Mims: Thank you.
Brintle: The other thing I wanted to comment on was that ... is that at this point because of
how the IEDA application works, from ... from my understandings from the, you
know, for myself reading the packet that was coming out and what Coralville, you
know, sent over in their information, we're probably at the point where either, you
know, there is either probably just going to be a clean letter saying that it's okay
or we'll probably just, you know, when they said that we were going to withdraw
the application, we have not yet. We probably will have to because there's ... we
just left ourselves not enough time to have there be an attempt to use this as a way
to foster agreement between the two cities, unfortunately I, you know, the timing
of the applications just doesn't allow that to go in. So ... for us, if there is a letter
that's been a ... approved but with conditions, we're probably going to have to pull
our ... our grant request back from IEDA, just because there's not enough time for
the back and the forth with the conditions in order for it to proceed in a timely
manner that lets us decide how large a facility and how to build out the facility for
us to move forward. So I just kind of wanted to clarify that a little bit, if...if that
makes sense, or I can answer some questions about that if necessary.
Botchway: I do have a quic... I do have a quick question. Is there the opportunity for now, I
mean, even.... obviously with ... you're saying that there could be the possibility of
the withdraw of the, um, letter, um, and the grant application. There's a
possibility that there's going to be continued conversation now, um, you know,
after this deadline of tomorrow with, you know, Iowa City and Coralville to kind
of resolve this. I mean, that's kind of what I'm hearing — maybe, maybe not?
Brintle: I don't really know. I just have some decisions that need to be made about, I
mean cause ... even more so than the ... than the economic development area, I
need to get my... my people under one roof (both talking)
Botchway: Right!
Brintle: ...sometime soon! So ... urn ... we'll either need to make the decision to pull the
grant request ... the, or the IEDA. It's not really a grant. It's an IEDA application.
Um, or let it continue and we'll probably make that decision, you know, like...
like IEDA has requested tomorrow. And I... and I definitely... apologize for
having this be all time -urgent. It was not my intent and it was definitely not
where I wanted to be today.
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Markus: And, Lee, I ... I will just offer again, and... obviously these are CEO -type of
decisions in the private sector, but we went out and did find a ... another location,
close to your server location, close to your wire location, in Iowa City, and we
talked to the landlord, um, they'll move, um ... they'll move mountains to get you
in there and make you happy there, from what we've been told. So ... you know,
I ... I'm not in ... I'm not trying to compete here but we'd still love to see you here!
Brintle: I appreciate ... I appreciate that thought. We are ... we are pretty far down the road,
but I'd ... after the meeting I'd love to talk with you, so...
Hayek: Thanks, Mr. Brintle!
Mims: Thank you!
Hayek: So, um...
Landry: Hi, uh, Doyle Landry, urn ... under the guise as National Association of Black
Journalists. This whole thing is confusing, and I say that... in speaking layman's
terms and trying to connect the dots, and so for those of us in the room who write
for a living and report for a living, uh, with due respect to the entrepreneur of 21
years, that you're setting precedent, that um ... with all things being equal under
the law, that what stops someone from coming down the road and using this taped
meeting as an example, and this is not a (can't hear) voicing in, um, for anything
to be struck down, but I'm sitting back and I'm listening, I'm connecting the dots,
and I'm thinking in the ... when you walk in someone else's shoes, what if I'm a
business down the road in the same predicament, and so I just want you all to be
cognizant of the fact as a body, um, elected body, that you're setting precedent,
that someone down the road could use this taped meeting and so solution? It
would be ideal using the local media, whatever your decision is tonight, to explain
this fully in layman terms, for individuals who may not have a university, uh,
degree, so that people can understand that their tax dollars and things for the good
of Iowa City is at stake, is what's being advanced, because you hear a lot of big
terms, and I hear a lot of goodwill and apology, but at the end of the day, you're
setting precedent, and that's just something to be cognizant about moving forward
because, again, um, all of us may not be as lucky with regard to relationships and
again I'm mindful of the fact that 21 years of entrepreneurship, you have families
who are counting on you all as a body doing the right thing. Just had to throw in
my two -cents.
Hayek: Thank you for your comments! Further Council discussion? I will, uh, I mean, sc
what's before us is ... is this letter, um, I think we should go ahead and send it in.
Um ... uh... I ... I, Tom, I'm glad you pointed out the Connect Five example. That
was another business, um, that was for ... for which we were requested, um, to
provide a ... a letter, um ... uh, in connection with a relocation, and ... and we did so.
I think that's important, uh, to, uh, remind ourselves of. I think in this ... with
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unfortunate set of circumstances, um, but ... but the fact is we're... we're... we're
talking about a ... a $150,000 almost of...of State subsidies and another half
million of...of...of local Coralville subsidies, and that's why this process was
triggered, and that's why we're having this awkward conversation, um, but I think
the ... the proposed letter and the conditions in it are ... are reasonable. Um,
and... it's... it is ... it's my opinion that ... that this is about luring business, uh,
away. Um, and... and quite frankly, that's why the TIF laws were changed in
2012. Uh, to try to prevent this, uh, going forward. So, those are my comments!
I'll ... I'll support the letter. Any further...
Throgmorton: Do you need a ... well, we don't have a formal motion before us? (several talking)
Hayek: It's on the floor.
Throgmorton: Been so long ago I couldn't (both talking)
Hayek: Yeah, I know! It's been almost ... 45 minutes. Further discussion? This is a
motion, so we'll do a voice vote. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye.
Opposed say nay. Motion carries 6-0.
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ITEM 9. DIVISION REORGANIZATION - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 1,
ADMINISTRATION, CHAPTER 8, ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE
DEPARTMENTS, SECTION 1-8-1, ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE
DEPARTMENTS ORGANIZED: TO UPDATE THE TITLES OF
DEPARTMENTS AND THE HEADS THEREOF AND TO EXTEND THE
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE FORMER POSITIONS TO THE
REVISED POSITIONS. (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Payne: Move first consideration.
Dickens: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dickens. Discussion?
Markus: Uh, I'd just like to introduce, um, the topic a little bit. Recall we had this
conversation during the budget discussion, and one of the things that we look at in
terms of, uh, staffing and in terms of the succession plan is, uh, what's called span
of control — how many operations are falling under one department, and so when
we looked at ... uh, the Landfill operations, the Collections operations, it was
really decided that, um, the Public Works operation span of control was really
significant. And that in terms of Transportation, we felt that there was capacity
over there to move that operation over there, get more attention. The other thing,
um, through succession, we have an individual that has overseen both the Waste
Water operation and the Landfill, Collections operations, and quite frankly that...
each one on their own has significant responsibilities, and so with suc...
succession of people within that department, not the least of which was Rick
Fosse, but some... the... the combined head of both of those departments, uh, will
be retiring in ... in short order. We wanted to, you know, change up the span of
control and get that balanced a little bit, and then at the same time, um, actually
add people, um, to oversee those specific operations, those separate operations, so
that they have more attention. There's... there's a lot of changes occurring in the
whole area of Solid Waste. We'd like to get to, you know, zero garbage at some
point. There's being discussions all over. You know we kind of put the ... the, uh,
Fiberight process into stall, uh, in part because we had people moving around and
people moving towards retirement, and in part because I don't believe you have to
be number one, uh, on trying a brand new project. I like to see how they play out,
and Marion is on the same page, they're moving ahead with the project, so I
expect we can learn a lot from them in that process. So with that I'd ask Geoff to
just kind of give you the details of what's before you in the ordinances.
Fruin: Okay, so uh... it's really a ... a pretty simple ordinance before ya, um, tonight. The
memo covers a .... a couple of things. The changing of the name from
Transportation Services to, urn ... uh, Department of Transportation and Resource
Management, and ... and actually the ordinance before you is just reflecting that
change. So if there's code references to the Department of Transportation, this
ordinance is ... is recognizing the new name. Uh, likewise if there's code
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references to the Director of Transportation, this ordinance is, um, acknowledging
the new title of... of the department. So, uh, it would refer to the Director of, uh,
Transportation and Resource Management. The memo is a little bit more
comprehensive than ... than the ordinance calls for. Um, at the next reading we
will ask for expedited action on this, and we will also bring to you a resolution
with the job position changes that are outlined in the memo. So, today's vote is
just the code references, uh, the, uh, the next meeting that you have will be
hopefully the second and third readings of those code, uh, changes, as well as the
resolution outlining the position changes in the memo.
Hayek: Any questions for Geoff or Tom? Anyone from the audience? Council
discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 6-0.
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ITEM 11. FOOD TRUCK VENDING - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 9,
ENTITLED "MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC," CHAPTER 4,
ENTITLED "PARKING REGULATIONS," TO ESTABLISH
PROVISIONS FOR FOOD TRUCK VENDING ON CITY STREETS.
(SECOND CONSIDERATION)
Payne: Move second consideration.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
Fruin: If I could, um ... uh, clarify one thing, uh, again this is, uh, the ordinance, and then
at the third reading, uh, you will have a resolution setting the fee, as we'll ... we'll
also introduce the administrative, uh, rules that will provide more details on the,
uh, operational requirements and the permit requirements here. Um, one thing,
uh, that has come up between your last meeting and tonight's meeting, uh, is the
question on hiw... how we will treat University of Iowa dining facilities and
private vendors that they may have in their, uh, facilities, and after discussions,
uh, with the University, um, we have, uh, agreed to, uh, place the same restriction
on those facilities as there are on other restaurants. Uh, there's similar concerns
that brick -and -mortar restaurants have, uh, with some of the private vendors on
University... in University facilities, as well as with their dining operations. They
technically don't meet the definition of a restaurant in the City Code. So when
you see those administrative regulations or rules, uh, at your next meeting, you'll
note that, um ... uh, that's an additional restricted area, and this ordinance does
allow the City Manager to create additional restricted areas as nuisances come up
or as we have experience with food trucks, if we realize that there's some areas
that aren't functioning correctly, we can quickly, uh, make those adjustments.
Uh, the final piece, uh, the only other ... I should say the only other restricted, uh,
area that you will she ... you will see show up in the administrative regulations is
the area immediately adjacent to the Pentacrest, and that was another, urn ... uh,
discussion point that we had with the University. Um, they obviously have, uh,
policies in place on how the Pentacrest can be used, and although this is City
property, it's directly adjacent to the Pentacrest and as ... and staff feels that we
should respect their policies and extend, um ... uh, the ... the restricted areas to
those around the Pentacrest. So, that's, uh, that's not in the ordinance today, but I
wanted to make you aware of that and certainly if ... if you have concerns with
that, um, you can contact me or we can have that discussion now, uh, and we can
reflect those, uh, wishes in the administrative rules.
Hayek: Thanks, Geoff! Anyone from the audience? Council discussion? Roll call,
please. Passes 6-0.
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ITEM 12. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be
18 years of age unless specific qualifications are stated.
Hayek: Uh, at our work session a majority favored, uh, a ... appointing John Beasley,
Adam Ingersoll, and Monique Washington to the Library Board of Trustees. Can
I get a motion, please?
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? All those in favor say
aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 6-0. There are, uh, openings on various
City Council commissions. Um, there is a vacancy... there are two vacancies
rather on the Airport Zoning Board of Adjustment. There is one vacancy on the
Board of Appeals, and there is a vacancy on the Historic Preservation
Commission for a Jefferson Street representative and we encourage the public to
apply for those spots.
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ITEM 15. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION
Hayek: Why don't we start down with you, Michelle.
Payne: I just wanted to reiterate that, uh, we had a proclamation today for Arbor Day,
being today in Iowa City, and where I work, MidAmerican Energy has a program
called "Plant Some Shade," which fits right in with Arbor Day, and you can go
onto MidAmerican's web site and look up "Plant Some Shade" and you can
purchase trees at a reduced rate, um, and plant some ... plant some trees in your
yard!
Mims: And should they make that ... one call before they (both talking)
Payne: Absolutely! Call One Call before you plant it! (laughter) There should be a
reminder in the tree!
Dickens: I just want to say Jim and 1, uh, attended the memorial service for Terry
Cunningham and it was a packed house at Uptown Bill's. A lot of great speeches
and he will be missed!
Mims: Nothing!
Throgmorton: Nothing, uh...
Mims: Nothing!
Throgmorton:... on March 30th you and I went out to the Animal Shelter and (both talking)
Mims: Oh we did!
Throgmorton:... given a really terrific tour by Liz Ford and ... Brad? The engineer?
Mims: Shaun, I think.
Throgmorton: Shaun, uh, what's Shaun's last name? (both talking)
Fruin: Bradbury.
Throgmorton: Shaun Bradbury, uh...
Mims: Great (both talking)
Throgmorton:... terrific job of guidin' us through the place...
Mims: Yes!
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Throgmorton:... if I understood, uh, Liz correctly, it's likely to be finished in August.
Mims: It's going to be a beautiful facility! Thanks for the reminder! That was great!
Hayek: Um, so Mission Creek Music Festival, uh... wrapped up Sunday evening. I
missed most of it, but ... um, I caught the Jeff Tweedy concert on the front end,
which was not technically Mission Creek, that was last Monday, and then on
Sunday, uh, two nights ago, I caught the Father John Misty Show at the Englert,
and that ... that place was ... was packed and the energy level just about blew off
the roof and ... and I was looking down on the crowd and ... the ... you couldn't
have seen a more diverse crowd. I mean you had young college-age hippie types
all the way up to septuagenarian corporate presidents, and I saw one in the crowd,
and ... and everybody in between, and it was ... it was just outstanding and Mission
Creek is such a ... incredible event for the community and you could just walk
around during the day and ... and during the evening and ... and see the... the... the
energy and ... and the people so ... that ... that was great. Secondly, uh, happy
birthday to my wife who, uh, celebrated a birthday today and (laughs)...
Throgmorton: Good memory, Matt!
Hayek: ...and here I am! (laughter)
Payne: Take flowers home!
Hayek: Yeah!
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ITEM 16. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF
a) City Manager
Markus: You mentioned, um, Liz Ford and Liz Ford just brings an incredible amount of
enthusiasm to this role that, uh, leading the Animal Shelter. She's just, uh, just
done a remarkable job getting started and moving that project along, so ... we're
very proud of the work she's doing.
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